


Fire and Ice

by TheOnlySongintheForest



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Norse Religion & Lore, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Coulson Lives, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Jealous Steve, Loki Feels, Loki Redemption, Marvel Norse Lore, Muspelheim, Thor and Loki are Bros, Valhalla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-08-30 12:16:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 25,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8532706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOnlySongintheForest/pseuds/TheOnlySongintheForest
Summary: Agent Nia of SHIELD is tasked with profiling the Avengers, but finds herself more fascinated with a certain villain for all the wrong reasons.  When the good Captain gets involved, a dangerous love triangle evolves.  Unbeknownst to them all, a deeper, darker force is at work that will threaten their entire world.





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> Previously released on DeviantArt as "Fires of Muspelheim." These events take place directly after those in the movie "The Avengers."

Loki wiped the sweat from his brow as he stood overlooking the Fireplains of Muspelheim. Located far south of Jotunheim, the realm of the Ice Giants, the Fireplains were home to the ancient, forgotten giant, Surt. At least, he was forgotten. Before the actions of young Loki on the planet Earth had awaken him from his slumber. Before the anger and vengeance rising throughout Asgard had fueled the flames in his homeland and stirred him to new energy.

Surt leaned back on his flaming throne, a smile tugging at the corner of dry, reedy mouth. The element of surprise had been on his side when he had attacked the thunder god, Thor. Thor, who was himself a legendary being, had been astonished to see the reality of a figure from his childhood bedtime stories. It had been no feat at all to smite him back and steal away his prisoner on their return to Asgard. That prisoner now stood before him, leaning against the railing of the gold palace, ablaze in the reflection of the Fireplains’ perpetual inferno. Surt showed his double row of pointed teeth in a loud, raspy laugh, delighting in the discomfort of the Frost Giant.

Loki could feel his temperature rising, the blood rushing through his body and roaring in his ears until the whole of the Fireplains seem to swirl and ripple around him. He rubbed his jaw, still sore from where the Asgardian prisoner mask had been ripped from his face. At the sound of the Fire Giant’s laughter, he spun around. “Why is that you’ve brought me here? What do you want from me?”

The fire giant did not answer right away. Instead, he stroked his dry, brittle beard, prolonging his prisoner’s pain. “Loki, what is that you want?”

“I want, I want,” he shook his head, trying to clear it of the hazy smoke. “I want vengeance. Vengeance on my brother and on that host of warriors who call themselves the Avengers.”

“Hmm. Well, it will have to do.” Surt stood and lifted his scepter from its holder, sparks flying from his every step. “Your problem, my young friend, is that your vision is too small. You want revenge for wrongs done to you and your small life. You do not realize that the entire galaxy is out there, waiting to be conquered.”

“I do realize this. What do you think I was preparing for on Earth? The Avengers proved to be more formidable than even my last…sponsor, was prepared for. I was to have the planet Earth, while the Chitari ruled the universe but the Avengers stole it from our grasp! Even their own greatest weapon of mass destruction could not be turned against them.”

Surt chuckled, stroking the scepter between his hands. “My boy. Armor and plans of action will always be the downfall of material weapons. But there are those methods against which the minds of man have no protection. You have yourself used these weapons, though you have yet to realize their full potential.”

Loki swallowed hard and furrowed his brow, trying to follow the ancient one’s train of thought. “I see,” he said, quietly. “You want to me to go inside their minds? Use their own thoughts against them? And what about me? What do I get in return? A planet of mindless bodies? Of soulless fools? I will be the king of nothing!”

The Fire Giant smiled in reply. “My dear boy, when I have finished with Earth, the other realms will fall in quick succession. You may have your pick of throne and of subjects. Now go! You have my arsenal at your disposal. Be thorough! I want them quivering in their boots, begging for the mercy of death when you are through!”

Loki spread his cape behind him, bowing slightly from the waist. “It shall be as you wish, my lord.”


	2. Chapter 1 - Assignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agent Nia gets her assignment from Director Fury. Mentions of Criminal Minds' characters/unit.

Agent Nia Ifernain rubbed her temples and leaned her head back against the cushioned support of her desk chair. She could feel her eyes throbbing, and the knot in her shoulders was getting tighter by the second. She had double-checked everything. The grammar and spelling were immaculate; the data had been carefully researched, organized, and detailed by herself, a dozen under-agents, and herself again; the final copy had been saved to every one of the organization’s backup servers. Now perhaps she could snatch just a few moments of rest…

“Agent!”

Her head quickly snapped into its customary upright position while her fingers flew back to their place on her keyboard. “Director Fury, sir!”

“Are those files complete yet?” The tall, dark man stood firmly beside the agent’s station, his one eye scanning her face. He’d taken a gamble on the young, untested brunette. Granted, she had been the darling of Harvard’s psychology department, sweeping her PhD with an ease that impressed even the most tenured professors. Even as an undergraduate, she had been heavily courted by the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. Their team leader, Aaron Hotchner, had promised her a permanent position with all the perks, her own office, the use of the team’s private jet, and of course the public glory of catching serial killers across the nation. But S.H.I.E.L.D. had a soft spot in the girl’s heart.

A photo of Agent Phil Coulson sat propped up in a corner of the messy desk. Her uncle, who she resembled in face and spirit, had always been an inspiration. She grew up surrounded by stories of legends, of heroes and villains for the ages, of battles and victories that went unnoticed by those who benefited. It was during one of these battles, against the legendary Norse god Loki, that Agent Coulson had paid the ultimate price. It was in his honor, just two days after his funereal, that Director Nick Fury had offered a job to his niece, and it was in his honor that she accepted with loyal enthusiasm.

If she had expected any favoritism because of her position, however, she would have been woefully disappointed. The battle that had cost her uncle his life had come about in part, due to the newly instated Avengers Initiative. This call to action had brought together the greatest warriors known to man. Tony Stark, of Stark Industries, Steve Rogers, Dr. Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton had been the members of this experimental team, although the public knew them better as Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye. There had even been a god among them, as Loki’s brother Thor joined the battle.

Although they were eventually victorious, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. quickly realized that joining so many great minds could lead to volatile situations. Thus, Agent Ifernain’s task quickly became clear: to create a comprehensive psychological profile of each Avenger, in an effort to predict, and perhaps someday control, each of their behaviors.

“Yes, sir,” the agent responded. “The file on Tony Stark is complete. Major tendencies towards narcissism, as previously predicted. I’ve uploaded the file on to the main server and to your personal account as well.”

“Very good, Ifernain. Who does that leave?”

“Steve Rogers and Thor, sir.”

“Well, seeing as how we lack a form of communication with Asgard, why don’t you focus your attention on Steve for now? Last I heard, he was at some sort of do-gooders convention in Ohio.”

“Sir. I’ll leave this afternoon,” the agent replied with a curt nod as she began gathering and shuffling papers then stuffing them into a worn, leather case.

Nick Fury turned on the heel of his heavy boot as if to leave, then paused, hands clasped firmly behind his back. “Oh, and Agent Ifernain. I’ve noticed some unauthorized activity in some of our villain files. Your job was made very clear to you when you arrived. You’re to produce profiles on the members of the Avengers Initiative only. We don’t need our time or resources wasted on extraneous material.”

Nia stood erect, her chair rolling out behind her. She swallowed hard and addressed her response to the black computer screen in front of her. “Sir, with all due respect, the work I’ve been doing on the Avengers is indeed important. But shouldn’t we also have an understanding of the forces we’re up against? Loki, the Chitari, the former members of HYDRA…sir, if we better understood them, perhaps we could be better prepared should they ever return.”

Fury turned again, moving closer until Nia was forced to look him in the eye. She could feel the burn of its power, while the scars surrounding the black patch over its neighbor seemed to throb with anger. “Agent, what was the first thing I told you when you took this job?”

She took a deep breath and answered, “You told me not to take the job personally. But sir…”

“There were no ‘but’s to modify that sentence, Agent. You’re upset that Loki killed your uncle. You don’t need a degree in psychology to understand that. But you’re an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. now, and we don’t need a profile-shrine to just one of the hundreds of evil-doers on our radar. So you just focus on your job here before you find yourself crawling back to Agent Hotchner at the Bureau. Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal, sir.”

For a moment, the two held each other in their stares, her ocean green eyes defiantly meeting his solid amber one. Then, with the nearly silent swish from his heavy black trench coat, Fury turned and strode out of the dark office space.

Nia let out a deep sigh, and crumpled back into her chair, laying her face between her hands. For a few moments, she sat this way, breathing, allowing her scattered thoughts to settle, like leaves in the wake of a sudden windstorm. Finally, she lifted her head and picked up the wireless keyboard in front of her. From beneath it, she peeled off of a much creased and faded photograph. It was a grainy security footage shot, taken inside the glass cage that had once held Loki. It showed the god, leaning against the glass, smiling coyly at the camera. The shades of green throughout his robes and armor enhanced the envious glint in his eyes while his waves of jet black hair framed a face that bore all the clear cut features of his royal breeding.

For a moment, Nia could feel the familiar icy grip reach around her heart, as she crumpled the photo in her fist. Then, with a sigh, she laid the photo down again, smoothing out its newest wrinkles. Her eyes hardened in determination. With a new firmness in her step, she tucked the photo into the inner pocket of her cropped blue business jacket, gathered up her briefcase and the rest of her papers, and left the room, the staccato click of her heels disappearing in an echo down the hall.


	3. Chapter 2 - Captain Rogers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia meets the man behind the legend.

Nia pulled her silvery slip of a Prius into the closest parking spot she could find in front of the Westin, Cleveland’s ritziest hotel and convention center. She glanced down at her phone and scrolled through the morning’s texts.

Sent 7:53am – Good morning, Mr. Rogers! Thanks again for allowing me the opportunity to shadow you! I’ll see you at the convention this afternoon. :)

Received 8:01am – Miss Whitman, You are very welcome. I will be seeing you upon your arrival. Yours cordially, Steve Rogers.

Received 8:03am – P.S. I will be at booth 218.

Nia smiled at the formal language of the superhero’s texts. In her interview with Tony Stark, he’d related his struggle to even get his colleague to adopt the modern means of communication. He never had convinced him that acronyms like “Lol” and “brb” were acceptable terms.

At least he had bought her lie, though. Two weeks ago, as her interviews with the man of iron were winding down, she had contacted Steve in the guise of a college student doing anthropology work. She had written that she was doing her senior dissertation on lifestyle changes throughout the twentieth century and would he pretty please allow her to shadow him for a few days and ask him questions? Of course, he had agreed…he was the pinnacle of chivalric goodness, after all. And now here she was, pulling out her Blue Star Mothers Annual Convention pass, pushing on her fake glasses, and preparing to analyze and decode one of Earth’s most unique citizens. Nia took a deep breath with her hand on the door. When she opened it, she was no longer Agent Nia Ifernain of S.H.I.E.L.D., but Valerie Whitman, shy, nervous college student on her way to interview a hero.

The main doors of the convention center opened into a grand foyer with a faux marble floor. A carpeted, whitewashed hallway led to two doors. The first had a placard outside announcing the time and subject of each speaker’s lecture. Nia glanced down at her watch out of habit, even though her entrance had been carefully timed to the second. Steve Rogers was scheduled to speak at 2:00pm. It was currently 1:16pm. She would have just enough time to introduce herself, get a general feel for the man, and then catch his prepared speech. It would be helpful to see how he presented himself in front of strangers before she began to peel back the layers of the man. That was the key behind her disguise as well. She had found too often before that a glaring S.H.I.E.L.D. badge and uniform were not the best tools when it came to getting people to open up.

The second door way was propped open with two large garden stones and led into the main convention floor. Even from the entrance, she could hear the monotone bustling and hum of voices that indicated the hive-like level of activity. When she entered the room, it was much as she would have imagined, had she cared at all to imagine the contents of a convention’s main floor. Booths were lined up along orderly lanes with colorful banners above each one, announcing the product they sold or the cause they supported. Although each strove to stand out among the rest, the general effect was a dizzying array of red, white, and blue.

Pulling out her map of the building’s layout, Nia was quickly able to navigate her way through the slow moving, lingering crowd to Booth #218. It wouldn’t have been terribly difficult to find without the map anyways. It was set in a place of honor against the far wall, twice as big as the other booths and with a younger demographic making up its surrounding crowd. A huge, round sign decorated as the famous shield announced Welcome Captain America!

Giving her glasses a final nudge up the bridge of her nose, Nia gripped her briefcase and began wriggling her way to the front of the crowd. “Mr. Rogers! Mr. Rogers!” she raised her voice and waved her hand in his direction.

The superhero, decked to the hilt in his trademark costume, stood upon hearing his name. “Miss Whitman!” he waved and motioned to the empty seat beside him.

“Oof!” Nia finally squeezed through the crowd with more than a few nasty looks from the younger ladies who were jostling for their chance to view the biceps of their favorite hero in real life. She grinned and tugged at a strand of hair from her ponytail as she plopped into the empty seat. “Geez, Mr. Rogers, this is such an honor to be meeting you. Thank you so much for helping me out with this! I’m sure to get an A+ now!”

“It’s my pleasure, miss.” The hero extended his red-gloved hand in greeting. “Always an honor to help out in the name of higher education.” Then he flashed a thousand watt smile at the next girl in line while smoothly signing his name to a glossy 8x10.

“Though you never attended college yourself?” Nia ventured her first query.

“No, I didn’t.” Steve answered slowly. “We had a little something called World War II going on at the moment. Didn’t really free up a lot of time for book learning.”

Nia was silent for a moment. “Have you heard of the G.I. Bill?” she finally said. “It was introduced after the war to help soldiers go to school and get jobs and housing. I bet you could still qualify!”

For the first time, Steve turned and really looked at the girl beside him. Her blood bay hair was pulled into a loose ponytail by the nape of her neck, and thick, black rimmed glasses framed a pair of nautically green eyes. She wore a comfortable pair of unadorned jeans with red high-topped sneakers. A cropped denim jacket partially covered her star-spangled “The Captain is my Hero” t-shirt.

With a blush, Nia pulled the edges of her jacket together. “I’m sorry. Was the shirt too much? I promise I’m not a creepy, stalker person. I just…oh, boy, I’m just totally blowing my chances…I mean, my chances at a good grade…wow, I should just stop talking.”

Steve signed another autograph, then smiled at her, revealing his flawless set of pearly whites for yet another fan photo. “No, I don’t think the shirt is too much. And you had a good idea, about the G.I. Bill. Maybe we can talk about it when this is all over.” He glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. “My speech starts in about half an hour. Then maybe we can grab some dinner? You can give me pointers on colleges, and I can talk about what it’s like to be alive ‘in the before time.’”

“I would really appreciate that, Mr. Rogers,” Nia blushed again and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear.

“Please, it’s Steve.”

“Steve, thank you.”

For the next half hour, Nia quietly scribbled a few notes on her yellow legal paper notepad while Steve churned out autograph after autograph. The crowd finally dwindled down as the time for his speech drew near. The hum of voices gradually migrated from the conference floor and into the lecture hall next door.

“Well, Valerie, if you don’t mind waiting in the wings for about forty-five minutes, I’m going to go make a bunch of grown women cry.”

Nia started, wide-eyed, at the blunt use of sarcasm, but quickly gathered her things and hurried after him. He moved through a narrow, poorly lit corridor that by-passed the main hallway and led directly onto the stage. Nia stopped just short of the stage’s varnished wood platform, hoping that her bright red sneakers didn’t show under the cover of the heavy velvet curtain. She rebalanced her glasses for the third time, then waited.

The stage was dark, but there were low lights glowing in sconces on the wall, softly illuminating the faces of hundreds of mothers, sisters, and wives, each one clearly bearing their emotional scars in lines across their faces, whispers of sorrow around their mouths, and shadows of tears in their eyes. Each one was, unconsciously, leaning forward, desperate to hear words of hope from their hero.

As soon as Steve’s red boots hit the masking-tape ‘X’ in the center of the stage, the spotlight flew on and an audible murmur of excitement rippled through the crowd. Even Nia was taken aback by the magical effect of the lone man, illuminated amidst the darkness. His face, although over a hundred years old, glowed with youth. His side parted blonde locks framed a strong jaw and square chin that seemed to be chiseled from the sketches of the finest Roman artists. Indeed, his statuesque muscles filled the tight thematic costume until it seemed ready to surrender its threads to gravity’s powers.

Nia looked down at her notebook and wrote: He is the shield.

Although there were several other aspects of note, Nia wrote nothing else during his entire speech. It was very inspiring. Most of the women in attendance were dabbing at their cheeks with soft, embroidered handkerchiefs; a few were weeping openly. Steve told some of his life story and spoke eloquently on the bravery of his fellow soldiers. At the end, he brandished his shield and, kneeling quietly on the stage, whispered, “God bless America!”

The room erupted in applause. It broke out all at once, like a clap of thunder and rumbled on, even as the spotlight was cut and Steve quietly exited the stage.

“That was great!” Nia caught him by the arm as they continued down the corridor. “Your performance was excellent! I mean your speech, of course, your speech…everyone loved it!”

“Yes, well, they deserve the best. Give me five minutes?” He had paused outside of the men’s restroom.

“Oh, of course, of course!”

Nia was startled by his appearance when he returned. Gone was the striped and spangled suit. He was wearing a plain white shirt with a brown leather jacket covering his arms. Faded jeans and brown western style boots completed his civilian gear. “Well,” he said, “how did you get here? You gotta a car or something?”

With a slight hesitation, Nia clutched his arm and the two started towards the main entrance. “I walked here. A car isn’t really on the college student’s budget at this point.” A slight lie on top all the others, but it would be fine. The car was S.H.I.E.L.D. property anyways…they could pay the towing fee.

“That’s fine. My motorcycle seats two.”

The pair quickly found themselves zipping through downtown Cleveland, ending up at a tucked-away burger joint within the span of fifteen minutes. The first few minutes were spent in a comfortable silence, neither feeling the overwhelming desire to speak. They ordered their food, a regular cheeseburger for her and a double-double with everything on it for him, got their drinks, then settled back into the squeaky vinyl of the corner booth.

“So, Steve,” Nia took off her glasses, wiped them on her sleeve, then settled them on her nose again, “You’ve been keeping yourself busy since…since New York.” She didn’t know what else to call it. The Battle of Manhattan? The Day the Aliens Invaded? The Day Loki Killed My Uncle?

“No,” he answered shortly. “I’ve done a little bit of what you saw today, but mostly I’ve been riding. S.H.I.E.L.D. gave me a credit card, so I’ve basically been going from town to town, trying to catch up a little bit on what I’ve missed out on all these years.”

“And what have you missed out?” Nia clicked her authentic Ohio State University pen and held it above the page of her notepad. “Are things really that much different than before?”

He was silent for a moment. He sipped his Coke, then flicked a leftover crumb off the table and onto the ground. “You know, there are a lot of things that are different. Like this phone Tony gave me. I can’t get over the fact that it takes pictures and sends telegraphic messages and makes phone calls! I still don’t fully understand the internet, and the fact that we’ve been attacked on our own soil by foreign agents again, twice now actually, boggles my mind. But I guess what never changes are the people. I’ve visited ten states since leaving New York, and everywhere I go, the people are always the same. Some good, some bad, all of them just trying to get somewhere better than where they’re at.”

“And when they need a little help getting to that better place? That’s where you come in?”

He smiled. “Sometimes. Sometimes, when they’re the bad sort, I stop them from getting there. And you,” he nodded to the waitress as she laid their food down, then glanced up at Nia, “you enjoy living in this time? You study people for a living…do you find that they change much?”

“Yes, unfortunately,” she shrugged in reply. “Sometimes I find the sameness in people to be so…dull. I always seem to find myself looking for the new and different.”

He smiled. “Say, you really want to do something new and different?”

Nia’s ears pricked up and her eyes shined as she leaned forward across the table. “More than anything!”

“I’ve heard that there’s a town in the Nevada desert called Las Vegas, and it’s supposed to be one of the most spectacular sights at night! They say the whole town is plugged into electricity. It’s on my list of things to see. You wanna come with me?”

She laughed out loud, a long, genuine, surprised laugh. “Of course I would love to go to Vegas with you! When do we start?”


	4. Chapter 3 - Welcome to Las Vegas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia and Steve ride into Sin City.

They left that night. After devouring their greasy meals, the two of them hopped back on Steve’s motorcycle and had hit Interstate 80 by nightfall. The next three days were filled with the thrill of the open road. Nia, who had never done anything so spontaneous in her life, reveled in the freedom. Her parents had moved many times when she was a child, so the scenery was nothing new. But to move with the land in this way, to zip in and out of America’s nooks and crannies with the fresh wind of the heartland wiping through her hair and the sweet, cool leather of Steve’s jacket pressed against her cheek…it was like feeling life itself rushing through her veins.

They rode from sunrise to sunset, spending the hazy summer nights in a series of two-bit dives, each one somehow more grimy and more deserted than the last, yet each indiscernible from one another. They passed through the rolling green cornfields of Iowa, wound through the icy mountains of Colorado, and finally descended into the desert of the Great Basin.

When dusk began to settle late on the last day, she leaned forward and tapped Steve on the shoulder, pointing to a turnout on the side of the road.

Nia hopped from the bike and ran to the safety railing. From here, they had a perfect view of the whole city, rising up from the desert like the lights of an ocean liner on the sea.

Steve tore off his helmet and ran his fingers through his still perfectly-parted hair. “What are we stopping for? We’re almost there.”

“I know. That makes it the perfect place.”

“For what?”

Nia simply motioned in return. Steve shuffled up behind her. A tiny smile crept its way onto her lips. He was so predictably bashful, so worried about making the wrong move and becoming less in anyone’s eyes. He stood behind her at a respectable distance, definitely no chance of touching, but she could still smell the gritty dust of the road and the cheap shampoo from the last hotel. “Just wait for it,” she whispered.

As they stood in comfortable silence, the gleam of the sunset began to rapidly fade from the sky, enveloping them in the warm, black night. The low glow on the horizon never quite disappeared though. While the sun vanished, it was replaced by a sea of twinkling stars. Against the backdrop of the dark sky, the stars gathered into the shape of a skyline. Millions of neon lights blinked and burned in a thousand skyscrapers and an odd collection of monument facsimiles.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

“It sure is.” He moved in closer.

Nia’s mouth opened in surprise as his hands wrapped around her waist. Slowly, she turned around, feeling the heat from their bodies’ friction against the cool night air. Alarm bells were ringing frantically in her head. Against the rules! They’ll find out! This could cost you your job! Stop this now!

But it was already too late. His lips were on hers…they started out with sweet, tender caresses, but before long they grew stronger, more insistent. His tongue pushed past her dry lips. His tall, powerful hips began to grind into her slim midriff. The alarm bells were still going off in Nia’s mind, but now for a different reason. Steve had slept for seventy years. The emotions he had kept so nicely buried were now lurking just below the surface with only one hope of release.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and for the first time, she realized what it must feel like to be trapped, that there was no escape if she wanted one. Quickly, she jerked her head back, gasping for air. Steve released her, taking a step back, shocked by his own actions.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” he rubbed the back of his head in frustration. “I don’t know what came over me. That was so, so out of line. I just, I just…can you forgive me?”

“Of course,” Nia smooth down the front of her shirt and pushed her hair out of her face, quickly regaining her composure. Finally, she reached out and laid a soft hand against his shoulder. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I quite enjoyed it,” she lied. “But perhaps we’d better find a hotel soon, before the Vegas night catches up to us too much.”

The two rode in silence to a shambly Motel 6 on the edge of town. The hotel clerk squinted at them in blatant curiosity as he handed them the key cards to rooms 207 and 209.

Outside the chipped green-painted doors, they stood awkwardly. The night had fully closed in around them, but in the heart of the valley, the view was hardly spectacular. The neighborhood was dimly lit by flashing neon bar signs strung between streetlights and blinking traffic signals. Even from here, the raucous din of the Strip could be heard. Car horns, people shouting, and the clang of thousands of slot machines filled the air.

Before he could think to speak or act again, Nia turned to Steve, gently placing her hand on his chest. “Goodnight, Steve,” she leaned forward, kissing his check before turning in to her own room.

The room was sparsely furnished. A single bed made up with a coarse, floral decorated comforter, a box tv set from the 90s, and a small round table with a lamp, a clock, and a phone made up the entirety of its offerings. Nia dumped the contents of her small red backpack onto the bed, before plopping down beside them. She brushed aside her toothbrush, dirty t-shirts, and extra pair of socks, focusing on her yellow notepads. There were ten of them all together. The first few nights, she had spent scribbling furiously until half of the pads were filled with her nearly illegible, doctor’s scribbles. Now she stared down at the blank, blue lines, clicking the ink pen off and on in her right hand.

It was mocking her, all that blank space, while the thoughts whirled around in her head, screaming to get out. Steve’s kiss tonight had revealed volumes. He was lonely. He hungered for human touch, but had always been so careful to hide it. His childhood was probably not filled with warmth or the example of loving parents, and he had been denying temptation for so long that when it finally broke forth it was with nearly violent excitement. Meaning that deep down, beneath the cloak of truth and justice, he had an all too human weakness.

Nia groaned and threw her pen across the room. Of course he had human weaknesses! He was, after all, only a man. A man morphed by science and frozen in time, but a man nonetheless. A deep darkness settled in the room and draped over Nia’s heart. There’s nothing as unsettling as watching a hero descend from his pedestal.


	5. Chapter 4 - Night-Mare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve has a night-mare.

The green digital glow from the clock on the desk showed 1:37am when Nia finally opened her eyes. She lay still for a few moments, slowly stretching out, her body sore and stiff from days on the back of a motorcycle and nights on hard mattresses. Then she sat bolt upright.

What was that noise? From the opposite wall she heard the soft, but insistent squeak of rusty mattress springs. It was followed by a sharp, low cry. Nia reached into the inner pocket of her denim jacket and pulled out her S.H.I.E.L.D. issued Glock. Then, creeping forward on stocking feet, she slid up next to the door adjoining her room with Steve’s. Opening the door on her side, she knelt down on one knee and pressed her ear against the remaining door.

The noise came again, this time followed by a loud crash, and a blue-yellow light flashed under the threshold. “Steve!” Nia jumped to her feet and banged her fist against the door, jostling the handle. “Steve, it’s Valerie…is everything ok? Let me in, please!”

There was another crash and the sound of glass shattering. Suddenly Steve began to shout. “No! No! It’s not real! Get away! Get away from me!”

Nia took a step back, then lifted her leg and with a swift kick, knocked the cheap lock off the door. Another kick sent the door flying open into the other room. As she entered, Nia lifted her weapon to eye level, sweeping the room. A quick glance around told a violent story. The bedclothes were torn apart and strewn across the room; the lamp had been ripped from its socket and smashed against the wall, leaving tiny shards of glass scattered on the floor; and in the corner was Steve, dressed only his white undershirt and red, white, and blue boxers, clutching the phone receiver with its cord stretched taut in his hands, ready to garrote the first person to come within range.

“Steve,” Nia approached slowly, lowering herself down into a non-threatening, crouching position, tucking her weapon away and out of sight. “Steve, it’s me, Valerie Whitman. You remember me, right? Please, put the phone down.”

Steve’s eyes slowly came back into focus. “Valerie?” He glanced down at the phone in his hands, now trembling violently. “Valerie, is it gone? Did you see it?”

He dropped the phone, and Nia moved in quickly, dabbing at his sweat-dampened brow with her sleeve while quickly nudging the phone cord away with her toe. “What was it, Steve? What did you see?”

“It was, it was a, I don’t know, a goblin-thing! It was sitting in the window sill and it was shouting at me…you didn’t hear it?”

Nia shook her head.

“It was shouting all these obscene things at me, telling me I was worthless, that I didn’t belong…” he gasped, pausing to rub the tears out of his eyes.

“Steve,” Nia lay her hand on his shoulder, “You said, that it looked like a goblin?”

He nodded in reply.

“Has it come before?”

He nodded again. “Every night for the past two weeks.”

Without another word, Nia stood and turned out of the room. In her own room, she pulled out the backpack that had been discarded by the side table. She reached in and unzipped a small inner compartment, pulling out the small, flat cellphone, emblazoned with the S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle. She pushed the square button at the bottom, then waited for the short ring-tone.

“Director, this is Ifernain. We need to bring the Avengers in. Now.”


	6. Chapter 5 - Assemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia assembles the Avengers and begins to dissect their night-mares.

Steve and Nia stood silently, side by side, on the hotel’s roof. Nia had changed into her form-fitting leather pants, soft emerald blouse, and cropped black jacket. Steve had thrown on a pair of jeans and a loose gray t-shirt. His star-spangled suit was ready and waiting in the canvas duffel bag clutched to his chest. He stood still and erect, reverting back to his military training. His face had frozen into a stern gaze, fixing his eyes on the dim speck of dawn showing over the empty horizon. Finally, he spoke, “Is there something you need to tell me, Nia?”

“Steve, listen, I’m sorry I had to deceive you. Most people aren’t willing to spill their guts to some agent in a black suit in a dark interrogation room,” Nia sighed.

“So do you have something to do with this? Is this goblin-thing part of your guys’ idea to get inside our heads? Figure out what makes us tick?”

“No. That thing is the exact opposite of what we’re trying to do. We want to help you, to turn your weaknesses into strengths. This thing, it wants to use your mind against you. And I think I may know where it came from. I’ll just have to confirm some data once we get back to base.”

Above their heads, a helicopter came into view, whipping up the cold pre-dawn air. Steve turned to her suddenly and grabbed her arm. “Did it mean anything? Was anything real?”

Nia paused. The fear in Steve’s eyes sent chills down her back, but did nothing to warm her heart. “My uncle was Agent Phil Coulson. He taught me to believe in heroes like you,” she said slowly. Then, looking away towards to the helicopter, she answered, “I still believe in them. And in you.”

By now the helicopter was overhead, the engine drowning out all other conversation.

A chain ladder descended from the cockpit, allowing the two to crawl upwards. Once safely inside, the chopper veered to the right, darting towards ever-lightening horizon. After a few hours of circling around the barren desert mountains, they settled down on a plateau overlooking the vast, cavernous network of the Grand Canyon. They and their silent pilot disembarked onto the warming red rock.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. always picks a hell of a place for a hideout,” Steve commented.

Nia’s answering silence was interrupted by a soft swish. The ground under their feet began to give way, revealing that they were standing on a giant helipad that was now descending into the ground. As they went slowly down, their view transitioned from the wide open spaces of the pastel colored desert to the black and gray mechanical layout of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s underground headquarters. They descended into the hangar, then followed the pilot through a solid steel mechanical door.

Before them lay acres of the country’s finest in technology, weapons, and minds. It was laid out like a traditional office setting, minus the cubicles. Dozens of agents were spread out, each with their own set of three lofted, transparent screens on which they went about their clandestine work. As they passed through on the central pathway, Nia kept her eyes fixated forward, but Steve glanced around at the blue-clad agents, some sitting at their desks, typing furiously, while others rushed about with sheaves of blueprints and diagrams clutched in their hands. The plans on the screens varied from the plumbing for the building they were currently in, to one grand scheme of lists tantalizingly titled “Project Morgana.”

In the center of the room was a dais, circled entirely by glass walls and containing an impressive number of blinking buttons, heavy switches, and various other controls. Sitting at a round glass table behind the controls was Nick Fury and the rest of the Avengers team.

Tony Stark, who was already pacing the room, rolled his eyes when the sliding glass doors parted and allowed Steve and Nia to enter. “Oh, good! Now that Captain Underpants and Miss Mind Doctor are here, I guess we can get started.”

Natasha glared at Tony from under her bobbed wave of red locks, then turned her sharp gaze on the pair. “You know I’m never the first to agree with Tony, but I am wondering why we’re here. I suppose it has something to do with you, Nia.”

Clint dropped the pen he’d been drumming on the table, and Bruce swiveled around in his chair. Now all eyes were on Steve and Nia.

“I don’t understand,” Steve reached out to put a hand on Nia’s arm, then quickly withdrew it. “I thought we were being pulled in because of the dreams I’ve been having. Why are they all here?”

Nia cleared her throat and tugged her jacket closer before setting her backpack down on the clear tabletop. “This isn’t just about your dreams, Steve. It’s about everyone’s.” She nodded to Fury, who, with the press of a button, brought down a series of opaque curtains around the table. With the turn of a dial and the quick tap of another, the curtains lit up with the projection of Nia’s typed notes. “You’ve all been experiencing similarly frightening nightmares, the most recent of which typically include illusions of hunched goblin or troll-like creatures. I believe I may know the source of these visions, but I’ll need to conduct a brief re-interview with each of you in private. And, Director, I’ll need a sketch artist in here as well.”

“Well, you heard the lady.” Fury stretched himself up to his full, imposing height and pointed at Bruce. “Banner, we’ll start with you. The rest of you, vamoose. And someone get a sketch person in here.”

“Hang on, now, hang on!” Tony lifted his hand in protest, even as his team mates were beginning to shuffle towards the door. “Why do you need to interview us again? Didn’t we already waste enough time with this psycho stuff? And what do nightmares have to do with the Avengers? We’re still people, after all…mostly. We get bad dreams. But it’s not the end of the world.”

“Mr. Stark…” Nia began.

“And another thing…who died and made you the queen of S.H.I.E.L.D. anyways?”

Nia glared at him, but bit her tongue, choking back her retort to his insensitivity. “Mr. Stark, it’s your job to protect the human race. And I try not to tell you how to do that. But it’s part of my job to protect you. Now I ask that you allow me to do that the best I can.”

Everyone waited in silence for another smart-aleck Tony reply. Instead, he cocked his head to the side, his lower lip protruding in thought, then said, “Fine. But I want to go first. Some of us have multi-billion dollar companies to run, you know.”

Nia rolled her eyes, but motioned to the chair across the table and waited for everyone else to file out before beginning.

As they went along, Nia guided each member through a series of memory recalls, drawing out details of the dreams and the creatures that accompanied them. As far as she could tell, the dreams became more vivid and realistic as time went on. Tony saw the dismantling of his empire, the loss of his suits, and again and again the disappearance of Pepper. In Bruce’s dreams, he was the Hulk all the time. He’d lost the ability to become himself. As the dreams escalated, he saw himself committing terrible deeds as the “other guy.” In last night’s visions, he admitted, he saw himself destroying the Avengers single-handedly. Natasha’s dreams tended to be less vivid. Her mind had been molded by the highest psychological war machines on the planet, but even she had her cracks. She said, with a cold voice, that she saw all of her debts to Clint piled up, written in blood, until they flooded over and drowned them both.

When Steve came in, he was brief and to the point, looking at the floor, the desk, anywhere but Nia’s eyes. He recounted his visions which more numerous and varied than the rest. He had imagined the U.S. losing the Second World War. He saw Nine-Eleven and dozens of natural catastrophes, and in each instance he found himself frozen, completely unable to move or to help.

“And last night,” Nia glanced down at her notepad, softly twirling the pen between her fingers, “what did you see?”

Steve cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair. “I saw you, Nia. And it all started out so happy. We had gotten married. We had nice little house on a cul-de-sac with a white picket fence and a big yellow lab. We were painting the nursery blue.” His voice caught in his throat, causing Nia to look up for the first time. She leaned forward and covered his broad hand with her own. But he coughed and brusquely turned his chair away so that he was facing the black walls. “Everything was great until that thing came and took you away. It crept into the house through the windows, snatched you up, and ran away. And all I could do was watch. I was frozen all over again.”

Silence reigned in the room while Nia’s watch ticked out the passing minutes. The back of his perfectly coiffed head remained still, and she knew that he wouldn’t shed any tears over their circumstances. Since being thawed from the ice, Steve had yet to reveal any raw expression of emotion, and he was unlikely to do so here, under the all-seeing eye of S.H.I.E.L.D. Still, Nia had to swallow around the lump growing in her own throat. When she spoke, the unshed tears made themselves heard.

“Steve, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to deceive you…it was never my intention to hurt you. If I could take any of it back, if I could make your dream come true and be that woman in the dream for you…”

“You know,” Steve’s normally airy voice was deep and muddled as he spoke, “the whole time I was having that dream, I somehow knew that that’s all it was. Just a dream. Because real life is never like that. It’s never perfect. People are never perfect. I shouldn’t have expected any more from you.”

Without looking back, he stood and stormed from the room.

Nia leaned her elbows on the tables and rested her face in the palms of her hands. She could just imagine her uncle’s reaction to her emotions. He loved the Captain, but the job came before everything. There was little time for sentimentality when waging a war against the enemies of mankind. Nia attempted to push these thoughts from her mind, allowing the blackness and ringing silence to swallow her up. She was interrupted by the soft swish of the sliding doors opening.

“Ah, Agent Barton, please come in. Have a seat,” she stood and indicated the chair recently vacated by Steve.

The agent nodded and dropped down into the seat, promptly leaning back and kicking both legs up onto the table.

A stern line showed between Nia’s brows, but she went on with the formalities. “Thank you for meeting with me, Agent. As you know, I’ve been interviewing…”

“It’s Loki, isn’t it?” Barton interrupted.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Loki’s the one behind all this, the one who’s been manipulating our minds.”

Nia pulled out her chair and sat in stunned silence. “How do you…who told you…?”

“You forget,” Clint leaned forward now, closing the distance between them across the table, “I’ve already been under Loki’s power. I know what it feels like, to have him crawling around up there. And I can feel it again.”

“Why haven’t you said anything?”

“Why haven’t you? You and I both know that S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t about to admit to fighting something they can’t see, something they can’t touch. Only now Loki knows it too. And there’s something else…”

The agent paused. Gripping his elbows, he stared down at his reflection in the glass. “I don’t even know how to explain it,” he continued. “I mean, this time, Loki was definitely there, but there was something else too. Another presence. Full of heat and fire. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of him, behind the blackness of the smoke and fear. It’s like he’s a puppet master, and he has all of us on a string. You, me, Fury…even Loki.”

Nia sat straight up. “Clint, you aren’t saying that Loki isn’t responsible for the damage he’s done? For the lives he’s taken…?”

“Of course not! And if I saw the bastard today, I’d stuff him so full of arrows he’d look like a porcupine. Especially after what he did to Agent Co…to your uncle. But I’m also saying he might be more of a pawn than we initially thought.”


	7. Chapter 6 - Invitation to Asgard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor shows up on the scene, and Nia's extensive research on a certain villain gets her an invitation to the Realm Eternal. Guest appearances by Frigga and Odin.

Nia leaned back in her chair, contemplating Barton’s analysis. An idea was starting to take shape in her mind, but it would need cooperation. Standing and turning towards the control panel against the wall, she pressed a small blinking blue button. Within moments, Director Nick Fury and the rest of the Avengers team had assembled in the glass hall.

As everyone filed in, scraping chairs across the floor and noisily squeaking them back into place, Nia stayed at the control panel, rubbing her eyes. Nearly twenty hours without sleep, most of them spent in the dark womb of the underground offices, left her weak. Her muscles ached from lack of use, and red stars were starting to pop in front of her eyes. She made herself take a deep, calming breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Slowly she felt her head clear and the room come back into focus. When she turned around, Fury and the Avengers were all staring at her.

“Well, Ifernain,” Fury started, “What’s your conclusion? You have a profile ready for us?”

“I do, Director, but I’m afraid you aren’t going to like it,” she paused while Fury stood and rolled his one good eye in exasperation. “Sir, it has all the hallmarks of Loki of Asgard.”

“Of course it does!” Tony threw his hands up in the air and spun his chair around. “You see Loki around every corner, under every rock! I know he knocked off your uncle, and I’m sorry. But really? If you’re just here for revenge, then how different are you than him?”

“Oh and you’re only here for the giggles,” Steve leaned back in his chair, but his tone was sharp.

Tony smirked. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

“Guys!” Clint held up his hands in protest. “I know how it sounds coming from me, but I think she’s right. I…I know, Loki, better than the rest of you. And this smells of him from a mile away.”

“Even if it was Loki, what’s his end game? Does he think a few nightmares are going to scare us off?” Natasha shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

“That’s just it!” Nia exclaimed. “These aren’t just nightmares, at least, not in the way we think of them.” She picked a remote control up off the table and pushed a button that illuminated the wall in front of them. The picture that showed up was an oil painting portraying a green goblin perched on the languished figure of a woman arched over a white divan. From behind a curtain, a white-eyed horse’s head was visible, goading on the mythical creature.

“This,” Nia continued, “is what a night mare would have meant to the Norsemen. It was like a dark elf, one that could influence dreams, usually for the worst. If Loki has somehow teamed up with these creatures, it means there’s something bigger at work here, something we haven’t caught on to yet. Because they won’t stop at nightmares. If only there was a way to communicate with…”

Nia was interrupted by a low rumbling. The heads of everyone in the room tilted upwards, trying to grasp an angle on the incoming sound. It started low and distant, then grew louder until it shook the ground and sent chips of dirt and cement flying from the ceiling. The rumbling had only ceased for a moment before a bright flash of light filled the room, blinding everyone inside. When the light dimmed, they all turned to see Thor standing in their midst.

Fury scowled with his hands on his hips. “Mighty coincidental for you to show up, your majesty. We were just talking about you and that brother of yours, who I’m assuming, is still locked up in an Asgardian prison cell?”

“It is not coincidence that brings me here, Fury. Heimdall, guardian of the Bifrost, who sees and hears all, has told me of your plight. I have come to offer my help, and to warn you. My brother has escaped. The Fire Giant, Surt, attacked us on our way back to Asgard and took my brother prisoner. I have not heard from nor seen him since.”

“But we have.” Nia finally gathered up enough breath to speak. Being in the presence of the thunder god had struck her speechless with surprise. To hear him speak and feel the electric energy he possessed was to see the impossible. It was as if King Arthur himself had stepped from the proper pages of his story and was now extending his hand in greeting.

Thor turned his attention to her. He looked up and down the agent. She reached only slightly above his shoulder, even stretched to her full height and standing in well-heeled boots, but the fierce determination that lit up her eyes added a spark of intensity to her person that was difficult to ignore. “Indeed,” he moved towards her as he spoke, “But like you, I also believe that my brother is not the only culprit here. I know him and his tricks intimately and never before have I seen him employ these mares. In fact, I believe that both my brother and the mares are under the influence of this giant, Surt.”

“And who was influencing your brother during the battle of New York?” Nia shot back.

“I do not know. The Tessaract is a powerful force, beyond even our capability to measure. It is possible that it somehow influenced his mind then too.”

“He killed my uncle! And more than a few other good men who tried to defend this planet from him and his otherworldly powers!”

“You think I do not know this!” Thor shouted, and the reverberations of his deep voice shook the small room. He paused and glanced around from under his heavy brow. “My apologies. I did not mean to raise my voice in anger. I came here to humbly ask for your help.”

“Us, help you? Aren’t you like a god or something? Don’t you have about a million other gods you can call on in your hour of need?” Stark asked.

Fury ignored Stark’s comments, saying, “What Tony means is, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s resources are at your disposal. We’re grateful for your repeated help in protecting our planet.”

“Thank you, but it is not your arsenal nor your armies that I am interested in.” He directed his attention towards Nia again. “You are the shield maiden called Nia, are you not?”

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she answered warily, “I am.”

“Your hatred for my brother has fueled a deep knowledge of my culture within in you. My mother and father wish for you to come and examine our ancient texts, in order that we may discover what Surt’s plans are for my brother.”

“But, Thor,” Nia answered slowly, the cogs of her mind finally turning and connecting with each other. “if Surt has been awakened, you know what that must mean.”

The two locked gazes, his steely blue ones holding hers with unflinching resolution.

“Well, maybe you two would like to get a room, or you could enlighten the rest of us with all this Kurt and Loki business,” Barton leaned forward and raised his brow with an expectant smile.

“It’s Surt, not Kurt,” Nia replied without breaking Thor’s stare. “And Thor and I both know that when Surt awakens, it’s a sign of Ragnarok, the Norse version of Armageddon, the end times.”

“So you’re saying that the appearance of this giant means the world’s going to come to an end?” Natasha asked. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop it?”

Thor finally broke away and swept the rest of the room with his gaze. “I hope not. That is why I have come seeking Nia’s help, however. She may see a way out that we have not. I desire for her to accompany me back to Asgard.”

“No!” Steve stood abruptly and slammed his fist on the table. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t allow our agents to go traipsing all over the universe. And I don’t think we should even be offering him any of our resources. His brother has been the cause of most of our troubles! The same brother, might I add, who is at the heart of this newest mischief.”

“Lieutenant!”

“It’s Captain!”

“Captain! We need her! And I know that my brother is the cause for most of your troubles, and for that I am sorry. But without her understanding, he may be the cause of more trouble than you have seen in a lifetime!”

“I’ll not let you risk her life for your adopted, trouble-making misfit of a brother!”

Steve and Thor had closed the distance between themselves and were now standing face to face, looking for all the world like two stallions, muscle bound and pride driven, snorting and stamping around their herd.

“Boys! That’s enough!” Nia lifted her stack of notes and slammed them down on the table again, drawing the attention back in her direction. “I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions, and I will go with Thor.” She held up a hand, stemming off Steve’s protest. “If I don’t, I don’t want to think that the end of the world could have been prevented by me. You of all people should appreciate that kind of duty, Steve.”

“Are you ready now, Lady Nia?” Thor stretched out his hand to her.

In silent reply, she reached out and placed her hand in his. Over his shoulder, she caught sight of Steve’s pleading blue eyes. She smiled in return. “Don’t worry, I’ll be home in time for dinner!”

Before he could reply, Thor had grabbed her by the waist, clutching her to his side. In his right hand, he twirled the legendary hammer Mjolnir, stirring the room into a churning whirlwind. In a flash, the room around them disappeared, consumed in a burning tower of flames and streaking stars. In this tunnel of light, they ascended. Though it felt as though they were standing still, Nia was aware of colors and sounds rushing past them, shapes of universes no mortal eye had seen before. In a final burst of cold night air, they were thrust from the tunnel and onto a domed platform.

When Thor released her, Nia found herself reeling backwards, dazed by her surroundings. The walls of the circular room were covered by dozens of cog like wheels, and multiple rays fanned out from the center dais. The combination of circles gave off a dizzying effect, and Nia began to feel her head spin as she attempted to walk forward towards Thor.

“Come, Heimdall has readied horses for us in order that we may cross the Bifrost more swiftly.” He wrapped his enormous hand around hers and quickly pulled her through the portal and on to the rainbow bridge outside. Without missing a beat, he lifted her into the air and settled her onto the saddle of a coppery chestnut mare.

At least here, Nia began to feel at ease. Her sport of choice throughout high school and college had been three day eventing. Dressage, show jumping, and cross country had made the saddle her second home. As they cantered across the shimmery bridge, she leaned down and gave the mare a quick scratch beneath her mane. In the middle of the chaos of the last few days, at least here was something real, something warm and loving that moved the same and responded the same on Earth or in any of the Nine Realms. She smirked when she glanced over at Thor, who clearly had not taken lessons in horsemanship, or at least had not minded his lessons. He rose with his meaty hands high above the horse’s mane, and his thick legs stuck out at odd angles. Anyone who saw the god of thunder in this position would be sorely disappointed in their expectations.

They rapidly approached the gleaming golden city whose dominating castle rose up in layer upon layer of shining towers. As they neared the city’s gates, Nia could make out two figures awaiting them. The first was a woman. Standing tall in her billowing blue gowns and crowned with masses of golden locks, she could be none other than Frigga, mother of Thor and Loki, queen of Asgard. Beside her was Odin the Allfather, with his golden eye patch, a souvenir from his long ago gaze into the Well of Knowledge. That same gaze had given him the foreknowledge of Ragnarok, which she was now here to divine.

As they alighted on the cusp of the great city, Frigga extended her hand in greeting, her lips drawn up in a tight, weary smile. “Welcome to Asgard, my dear. My son has spoken highly of your abilities. I trust that you find yourself comfortable in our realm.”

Nia dismounted lithely and faced the queen. For a moment, she hesitated, unsure whether a curtsy was called for when meeting a goddess. Instead, she reached out and clasped the woman’s hand in her own.

Odin cleared his throat beside them, holding his hands behind his back. “Well, I am sure that Thor has also informed you of the urgency of our request. I knew that Loki would be the harbinger of the end times. That is why I endeavored to keep him here, where he could stay under my close watch. But he has proved too elusive. Now I fear with Surt on his side, we may be beyond hope.”

“Father,” Thor interrupted, “are you sure it is not Surt that we should be more concerned with? I truly believe that Loki would not destroy this or any other world if he had another option.”

Odin’s lips drew down in stern disapproval. “They are both dangerous creatures and should both be considered enemies of the universe. I did what I could for Loki. He must now face the consequences of his own decisions. Come, Lady Nia. Follow me.”

Thor and Odin turned to simple wooden door set in one of the gleaming, alabaster walls of the city. Odin inserted a black, iron key into the lock, then pushed his shoulder into the wooden beams, slowly creaking it open. Grabbing a flaming torch from its sconce outside the door and holding it aloft, he led the way into a darkened passage.

As they followed the Allfather, Nia attempted to study her companion, who still held tightly to her hand. Frigga was a beautiful woman, statuesque, with thin brows and a firm lower jaw. She appeared to be not over fifty years old, but judging from the dates of her legends, she was indeed much older. However, even in the shadows, Nia could see that recent events were telling on the lady. Her lids drooped with exhaustion over her cold blue eyes, while deepening lines crept out around her mouth and eyes. Even more telling was the desperate way she clung to Nia’s hand, as if terrified to let her one hope slip away.

“Your majesty,” Nia ventured. “What is your opinion of these things? Do you think that Loki is plotting another attack on the Earth?”

She was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Do you know the real story behind Loki’s lineage, my child?”

Nia shook her head. From her studies of Norse mythology, she knew the origin myths of nearly every legendary being. But from the surreptitious way in which Frigga spoke, she felt that she about to reveal something that was not to be found in any traditional texts.

“After the Battle of Jotenheim, Odin went to retrieve the Casket of Ancient Winters from one of their sacred halls. While he was there he saw a child, laying in the snow, forgotten in the mass confusion and exodus following the battle.” A small smile crept onto her lips. “He was so tiny, he barely fit in the palm of my hand. My Thor was just learning to walk and talk, and I yearned for another infant. And what a child he was!

Thor took after his father in almost every way…headstrong, impetuous, bouncing off the walls with all his energy and exuberance. But Loki,” her smiled deepened and her eyes took on misty, faraway shimmer, “he was…what is that quaint Midgardian expression? A mother’s boy. He took to my magic lessons with the greatest of ease. He was, however, often abused by his peers for his small size. I am afraid that is where my influence turned for the worse. I showed him that a few small pranks could result in laughter from his friends. He began to use it as a shield to hide behind, and later…” the smile disappeared from her face, replaced by a deep furrow between her brows, “he used it as a weapon against those who hurt him the most.

I suppose every mother wants to believe that her son is innocent. That he is incapable of the monstrous things they have accused him of. But I know my son better than anyone else. He has built up walls with bricks that I gave him to keep others out. But I am afraid all he is doing is hurting himself.” She smiled softly to herself. “It used to be that Thor was the one I worried about. His thirst for blood and battle made him ill-suited to the throne of a peaceful realm. But the love of a good woman proved to be a catalyst for him. If only my Loki could experience such redemption in his life. I know that Odin will never welcome him home again, but if I could know he was safe and happy, I could live or die in peace.”

As she spoke, they wound their way through an upward curving, stone-paved tunnel. The air was cold and damp and numerous spider webs swayed in the breeze of their movement. They passed only one other door and a single hallway before making it to a flat landing with a similar door in it. Odin inserted the same key into it, before pushing it open.

The room they entered was oval in shape. Directly in front of them was a long, curved window through which a flood of golden light entered and warmed the room. On either side of the window, the walls were filled, floor to ceiling with books. There were thousands of dusty volumes, leather bound manuscripts, and crinkled, yellowing scrolls. A long table ran through the center of the room, piled to overflowing with open tomes and colorful, illuminated globes and cartographs.

“This is where you may begin your work,” Odin swept his arm to indicate the whole room. “There is a cord near this door which you may pull if you are in need of assistance. Until then, we will leave you to work in peace. My lady,” he bowed slightly from the waist, before retreating back into the hallway. Thor bowed his head in her direction, and Frigga lifted her hand to kiss it, then they both followed the Allfather from the room.

The door closed behind them with a solid sigh of air, sending millions of glowing dust motes flying into the air. Nia shrugged off her jacket, hanging it from the corner of one of only two chairs in the room, then set about her work. As she pulled out book after book, she attempted to focus on the words that danced before her eyes, but her mind was full of the conversations she’d had with Thor and his mother.

Both of them believed Loki to be a victim in his own schemes. It’s true that the Tessaract contained powers beyond understanding, but was he truly faultless in bending to its might? She refused to believe so. But the ones who knew him best were more than convinced. If only she could get inside his mind and crawl around for a few hours. Now that would be a psychology paper worth writing.

For several hours, she stayed at her task, gathering books, organizing them into categories, skimming their expansive content. The longer she worked, the hotter and more intense the flood of sunlight in the room became. Her jacket was already off, but Nia could feel the sweat gathering on her brow as the temperature rose. As she sat in her chair, it seemed as though the light itself was becoming heavy, pressing in around her, making every breath stifled. Her head felt thick and it was becoming increasingly difficult to swallow. Finally, she lay her head down across her arms on the table.

“Just a little shut eye,” she whispered to herself, “then straight back to work.”

As the haze gathered around her eyes, a figure emerged. It gathered and solidified, taking the shape of a man, smiling down at her through tight, thin lips and piercing green eyes.

“Loki!”

He grinned, then pressed his finger to his lips. “Shh! It’ll all be over soon!”

Then, reaching forward, he pressed the tips of his fingers to her brow. Nia felt an overwhelming shock of icy coolness before the room went black.


	8. Chapter 7 - Facing the God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia finally comes face to face with her uncle's killer.

Nia awoke with a high, distinct ringing in her ears. It seemed to reverberate off the walls and come back to bounce around in her head. With intense concentration, she was able focus on bringing feeling back into her body. The ringing slowly subsided and was replaced by a dull throb in her head. Her neck felt stiff and the rest of her body ached like it hadn’t since her first day of S.H.I.E.L.D. physical training. She could feel the stiff coldness of a stone floor pressing through her thin blouse. Even the air around her was cold and metallic, sending chills across her skin and electric tingles up her spine.

Slowly, she forced her eyes open. She was lying on the flagstone ground of a small, circular hall. Light was blazing through a single opening in the wall, but the rest of the room was a pale, shadowy gray. There was a small settee dyed an ugly plum color in the center of the room. A rough wooden table with an oil lamp and a cold, dark fireplace with an iron grate completed the furnishings of the room.

Nia was startled on to her knees by the hollow sound of footsteps behind her.

“So, the maiden awakes.”

“Loki!” Nia slowly raised herself to her feet, blinking until the stars were gone from her eyes. As the room came back into focus, she saw Loki standing against the fiery light from the window, his hands clasped behind his back, a pointed smile on his face. He was wearing the rich green robe indicative of his royal status and the gleaming double horned helmet symbolic of the Asgardian warrior. The light from the window danced on the bronze armor scattered throughout his black leather suit, turning him into the vision of an ethereal being. “Loki, what do you want from me?”

“What do I want from you?” he turned his back towards her to look out the window. “That question sounds a bit egotistical, don’t you think? As though lowly little you could figure into the plans of one such as myself. I hardly think your boyfriend the Captain would approve of such a show of arrogance.”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” she exclaimed hotly. Then, with a deep breath, she continued, “What do you know about me and Steve?” she forced her voice to stay calm and quiet. She stretched her fingers out behind her, wrapping them around the cold iron of the fire poker.

“I know that the two of you will never last. He is so full of truth and justice, and you…the fires of vengeance burn in you, Agent Ifernain.”

As he spoke, Nia crept forward, slowly raising the poker over her right shoulder, like a baseball bat. With a cry of exclamation she swung forward with all her energy, hurtling the poker towards his head. To her surprise he shimmered, then vanished. Without the impact from his body to stop the force, Nia found herself tumbling forward, thrown off balance. She and the poker clattered to the floor.

From across the room she heard a ripple of soft laughter. “See, I was right! The fires of vengeance! But the real question here is ‘why?’ Your hatred for me burns with a palpable heat, but why? What have I done to anger such an insignificant mortal as yourself?”

Nia lay on the floor, panting. “Maybe you’ll remember another insignificant mortal whose life meant nothing to you. My uncle, Agent Phil Coulson.”

“Ah!” Loki grinned. “The agent with the big gun and small mind. He fell for the same trick as you. I should have recognized the family resemblance.”

“That’s okay,” Nia raised herself onto her elbows and stared up him, “I shouldn’t have recognized you, considering I’ve never met any Frost Giants before.”

Loki’s face quickly darkened. “Who told you of my true parentage?”

“Frigga. She and Thor brought me to Asgard to search the ancient texts and see if there was a way to prevent Ragnarok. But there’s no way to stop it, is there? At least not without a massive, galaxy-wide war. Once you summoned those mares and began to infiltrate my friends’ minds, you tipped your hand.”

He smirked again. “You think you have it all figured out, you clever little fool. You think that your friends, the Avengers, are part of my end game? No. I desire to rule your world, to take my rightful place as king. Those pesky do-gooders just stand in my way. Besides,” he paced by the window, stroking the golden curves of his scepter, “those mares of mine do more than frighten children in the dark. They are like leeches. When they latch on they start feeding, feeding on the hopes and dreams and fears of their hosts. Then they bring that information back to me. How else do you think I knew about you and that star-spangled soldier?”

“So then what? You’ll have your own personal, brainwashed Avengers play-set? They’ll become pawns in your game?”

“Perhaps. But mostly I want to see them suffer. I want to see their most frightful dreams leap into reality. To leave them paralyzed when they find out that there is no relief in waking, that the nightmares will never end! Why else do you think I would bring you here? Steve Rogers thinks that losing you is the end of the world. Well, let us see if he is right.”

Nia leaped to her feet, shouting, “Frigga was wrong! There is no hope for you! You were born a monster, and you’ll die a monster when the Avengers finish with you!”

“Enough!” Loki’s face darkened as he shouted and brandished his scepter towards her. A blinding flash of light and a burst of heat lifted Nia from her feet and sent her slamming into the stone wall. “You pathetic bilgesnipe! You know nothing of what you speak! All you mortals are the same, seeing only what you want to believe. And now you will die alone like the rest of them!” And with another burning flash of light, he had disappeared.

Nia slowly pulled herself up, hobbling towards the sofa in the center of the room. She lowered herself down, then, burying her head in her hands, began to sob.


	9. Chapter 8 - Disassemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor delivers the bad news of Nia's disappearance to the Avengers and it looks to them like nightmares do come true.

Night was falling over the northern Arizona desert. Millions of bright, twinkling stars came out to dance in the cold, dark sky. Its black dome dwarfed the mighty canyon beneath. On a tiny cliff jutting out from the canyon’s edge, the Avengers team gathered. Clint and Natasha huddled by a coffee maker, each intently staring down the slow brown drops gathering in the pot below. Tony’s face was lit by the glow of one of his dozens of neon tech screens, on which he pointed out a particular diagram to Bruce. Steve was the only one seated by the fire-pit, absently stroking the dying embers with a gnarled and twisted stick. He watched as a few scattered sparks lazily drifted their way towards the sky.

As his eyes turned heavenward, he noticed the mass of dark clouds gathering on the horizon. He opened his mouth to comment on the change of weather, but before he could speak, a bolt of lightning split the sky and touched with a sparking crash twenty feet away. Through the clearing smoke, he could make out Thor, striding into their midst.

Everyone was silent as they watched him, each suddenly realizing that the god was alone.

“Thor!” Steve threw the stick into the fire, sending a shower of sparks flying up. “Where is she? Where is she, you son of a gun?!”

Thor bowed his head. “I am sorry, my friends. I am afraid that I have failed your most valued trust. The Lady Nia is…nowhere to be found.”

“What do you mean, ‘nowhere to be found’? She’s been up in Asgard with you! Are you telling me you lost her?”

“Steve,” Natasha quickly materialized by his side and placed a hand on his arm, “I’m sure Thor can explain. Let’s hear him out.”

Steve clenched his jaw and took a deep breath through flaring nostrils. When Natasha felt his muscles relax, she nodded at Thor. He returned the gesture, then continued, “When we arrived in Asgard, my mother and father escorted Nia to the palace’s secret library where the knowledge of the ages has been stored for generations. Believing that she could best work in peace, we then left her there with a guard outside the door. In many hours the guard saw no one enter or exit. That door is the only entrance into the room. When I returned with her evening meal, I found the room empty. All that was left was her coat, hanging from the back of a chair. I suspect my brother Loki…”

“Of course it was your brother, dammit!” Steve shouted. “Isn’t it always?! Don’t we always just have things working out fine here before you and your family issues come spilling into our lives, affecting the people we know?! You’re to blame for all of this!”

Thor’s fingers flexed around Mjolnir’s handle, gripping the hammer tighter. “I have apologized, my friend. I only wish to redeem my brother and have him back with me, just as you seek the return of your lady friend. Let us join forces to accomplish this.”

“No! No, I’ve had enough of you!”

“Boys!” Natasha jumped between the two men, reaching her fingertips out to each of their chests. “That’s enough of that!”

Her words were punctuated by the raucous, out of place jangle of a cellphone’s ring.

Tony held up the slim device in his hands. “Whoops, sorry guys. You, uh, just keep doing your thing. Don’t mind me.”

Steve and Thor glared at each other, but were silent nonetheless while Tony kept up his conversation at a rapid clip.

“Hello? Yeah, uh, now’s not really a good time. In fact, try back anytime but now. Wait. What? Are you kidding me? Look, if this is some kind of a joke…no, no that’s not happening. Stop it! Just stop it!”

He was silent for a moment after hitting the ‘end’ button. Standing with his hands in his pockets, facing the wall, he spoke to its red rock surface. “That was Rhodey. He said that Pepper…Pepper’s disappeared. And before she left, she signed papers authorizing the transfer of the company into the shareholder’s property.” He kicked the solid wall with the toe of his Italian leather shoes. “Damn it!”

“Ahhhgrahhh!” Everyone turned towards Bruce as he began to growl. He gripped his head between his hands as his body writhed in agony. Every muscle, every cell in his body was expanding, turning him into the massive, green Hulk. With a final roar, he ripped away the remnants of his shirt and slammed his fists into the ground. Thor lifted his hammer, and Steve grabbed his shield from its place by the wall, ready to do battle with their friend if necessary.

“Enough! All of you, just stop!” Clint yelled down over the group. He was perched in a tiny outcropping of rock above the terrace, clutching his bow in his hand. “Can’t you see what’s happening? It’s everything that we’ve dreamed about, everything Loki’s gleaned from our minds. Our worst nightmares are coming true. Steve, you’ve lost Nia, and Tony, now Pepper and your company are gone. Bruce, look at what’s become of you. We need to stop this now if we ever hope to beat it. Remind yourselves that it’s all part of a plot. We can fix it,” he glanced at Thor, “I hope.”

“The Birdman is right,” Thor announced, straightening himself up as he spoke. “I need to reach Asgard again, but I must do it in a manner that does not attract attention, as I am sure that Surt will be monitoring all of the entrances. But there is only one earthly place where a portal between the Nine Realms has been known to exist since their creation,” he glanced around as he spoke. “Does anyone know how to reach the kingdom known as Norway?”

Barton nodded. “We’ve got a jet that could get us there by morning.”

“Then so be it.”


	10. Chapter 9 - Love?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia tries a different tactic with Loki.

Nia awoke slowly and stiffly, yet again. The settee in the room was old fashioned, the kind that would have been vogue in an early twentieth century parlor. Valuable from an antiquing perspective, but highly uncomfortable for spending the night on. At least it wasn’t as cold as the stone floor. She stretched her arms out, then rubbed her eyes. They felt puffy, and the left temple was swollen, no doubt thanks to her multiple falls yesterday. As she sat up, a rough wool blanket fell away from her body. She frowned in confusion, fingering its scratchy green fibers. She didn’t remember a blanket in the room when she fell asleep.

As she came into full consciousness, she could see Loki’s silhouette by the window again. He was intently watching the flares of light beyond the walls and seemed unaware that she had awaken. She used this opportunity to study her captor. He had dispensed with the royal pretense of his helmet and robe, leaving only his thick, leather jerkin, accentuated by bronze and green embellishments around the edges. Even without the imposing horns, he cut a tall, lean figure. His face was sallow, and his cheeks sunk in until the bones stood out in sharp contrast, creating dark shadows beneath his eyes. He touched his long, thin fingers to his lips, lost in thought.

Finally, Nia faked a small cough, drawing his attention towards her. He quickly spun around, allowing the curtain to drop once again. “Ah, the maiden awakes, again. I trust that your slumber was a peaceful one. No nightmares to contend with?”

“None at all,” Nia replied. “In fact, it was the most sleep I’ve received in quite a while.” She sat up straight on the couch and ran her fingers through her hair, considering her options. Anger had accomplished nothing. Perhaps it was time to combine her psychological prowess with her S.H.I.E.L.D. negotiating training – and maybe a bit of feminine charm wouldn’t hurt.

“Loki,” she spoke softly, “I’m sorry, for what I said earlier. Your mother loves you a great deal. Her faith in you is to be commended. We should all be so lucky to have someone who believes in us so much.”

“Lucky?” he sneered. “To be stolen from your homeland and raised in the house of your mortal enemies believing that your own race are the ones to blame for the world’s problems. Being used as a weapon, held in an arsenal until the time for war is at hand. Then to be discarded when you are no longer of any use. And all the time thinking that you might actually have a chance at the life you were meant for. Yes, we should all be so lucky.”

“Loki, I don’t think it was ever your mother’s intentions to harm you. She seems to truly love you as one of her own. And your brother…”

“What of him? The thunder god?” he sneered.

“He loves you too. He wants to help you.”

Loki turned and paced the short length of the room, hands clasped behind his back. “What could that foolhardy brother of mine know of love? He never even gave me a chance growing up. He’s the one who started the war with the Jotuns; he deserved every bit of his banishment. It was my right to rule as king in his place!”

Nia stood and held up a gentle hand as she watched Loki’s rage begin to spiral. “I know. I heard of the kind of man he was before he left Asgard. But he’s changed now. He’s different. Since he met Jane Foster…”

“Do not speak to me of Jane Foster! The wench who overtook my brother.”

“He wasn’t overtaken…he fell in love.”

“Love.” He sighed and slammed his fist against the wall. “Such a cheap word to you mortals. You sing about it, you write about it, you pine for it day in and day out. Did you ever stop to think that it is the most difficult thing to truly grasp?”

“It’s not as difficult as one might think. But it does mean putting someone else before you, which can be, at the same time, the easiest and hardest thing you’ll ever do.”

Nia softly approached him from behind. She reached out to touch his shoulder, but her hand simply waved through the shimmery vapor. His image spun around quickly, surprised at her touch. Even though he was only a mirage, Nia was still taken aback by his powerful presence. His strong green eyes locked onto her storm-colored gaze. For a moment, they wavered, a flickering yellow flame appearing in the black of pupils, then quickly extinguishing.

“Loki,” she finally whispered, “if there’s someone hurting you, someone using you, please, let me know. I have friends in high places at S.H.I.E.L.D. We can make sure that you stay safe, forever. But please, you have to let me know. Your brother thought that the Tessaract and now Surt have been manipulating you. Is that true? Is there a way to stop it? Please, let me help you.”

Loki’s lips drew back in a mocking smile, just before the flames returning to his eyes, this time filling them until the irises were all but vanished. He cried out, “No! No! No!”

“Loki, what’s wrong? What’s happening?” She tried to yell and wave her hand in front of his face, but his eyes were fixated on a point above her head. His face froze in a terrible grimace, and he stumbled backwards, throwing his arms up in defense. For a moment, he shimmered in waves of colorful light, then he was gone, vanished out of sight.


	11. Chapter 10 - Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki faces Surt's scrutiny.

Loki materialized, still cowering, in the throne room of the Fire Giant, Surt. For a moment, he stayed kneeling, waiting until the convulsions of heat were done with his body. Finally, he was able to stand, weak and dizzy, but trying desperately to focus on the moment.

“Loki,” Surt leaned back on his throne, “what have you been up to?”

“Up to?” he whispered, licking his dry lips as he spoke. “I have merely been conversing with the prisoner. I wanted to know if she had any further secrets to reveal, any idea of the enemy’s plan of attack.”

“I see. And the topic of love…how did this come into play? Will Freya, the goddess of love, be leading the enemy charge against us?”

Loki clenched his jaw, forcing himself to speak slowly. “No, she will not. However, I believe that S.H.I.E.L.D. and more importantly, the Avengers, are more aware of our plans than we realized. My brother, Thor…”

“Do not speak to me of Thor!” Surt roared, slamming his scepter against the ground with a mighty thunderclap. “While you have been occupied with making love to the prisoner, I have been preparing an army! None shall be able to stand against my Warriors! That brother of yours will be nothing…he will be as chaff in the wind against my army. As will all of Asgard! The Nine Realms will soon be under my power, and none can stand against!”

Surt had stood and begun to pace the gleaming floor as he spoke. While his back was to him, Loki flickered once, then reappeared in his full royal regalia.

“You forget, oh great one, that not even the Tesseract-fueled forces of the Chitauri could fell the Avengers, of which my brother is only one member. Besides, I believe that you mean that we will rule the Nine Realms. Without my insights and weapons, you would be useless! Just another would-be dictator plotting world domination.”

“You are the one who has forgotten! I gave you your powers! I snatched you from the hand of your brother who would have thrown you into an Asgardian dungeon without blinking! I gave you the reins of my mares and allowed to take part in my campaign towards ruling the world. But no more! You have outlived your usefulness!”

As Surt ended his tirade, he flung his arm outward, sending a burst of flame towards Loki. But Loki’s image simply wavered, then reappeared, far to the right. Again and again, Surt lashed out, throwing flames until the room was alight with their burning. “You cannot run from me, fool! I will be the god of all, and none will stand in my way! Neither you nor your brother nor that dreadful wench shall survive this day!”

Surt stopped, panting in the hazy smoke. He spun every which way, but Loki was nowhere to be seen. “No matter,” he whispered. “Soon, he will be mine.”


	12. Chapter 11 - Into the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki isn't the only one who know the back doors through the Realms. Thor takes the other Avengers into Muspelheim via Yggdrasil, the World Tree. When they arrive, they find a wary Loki, who tells them he knows where to find Nia.

The black S.H.I.E.L.D. eagle glided to a landing on the icy strip of runway outside of Tonsberg, Norway. The ancient town was barely visible through a deep blanket of coastal fog. What could be seen through the jet’s miniscule windows was disappointing. Although the inhabitants were mostly peaceful farmers and fishermen, the city had been the site of at least two major battles in the last two millennium. It was here that Odin the All-Father had beaten back the Frost Giants in 965 AD., and nearly one thousand years later, it was again leveled by the efforts of Johann Schmidt.

After two such devastating losses, many of the inhabitants had not had the heart to rebuild. Some left, others made do with the surviving structures, but few had rebuilt. The result was a town from a time capsule. Crumbling houses and patchwork streets were strewn among a few glitteringly modern restaurants and shops.

“You brought us to this god-forsaken wasteland?” Tony was the first to stroll down the jet’s ramp, quickly zipping up his puffy, oversized parka.

“This place is not forsaken by the gods,” Thor responded. “In fact, it has been a place of communication between our realms since the time of creation. It is here that we will find the path to Loki and put an end to our troubles.”

“I hope so, and soon. I don’t ever want to have to ride in an airplane with Hulk again!” Clint joined the group rotating his elbow and flexing his fingers until circulation was restored.

Natasha, Steve, and the Hulk completed the tiny gathering at the edge of the runway. “Just tell us what we need to do, Thor,” Natasha said. “We’re in your territory now.”

“Right. Follow me.” Thor motioned with Mjolnir and turned away from the town. The group followed, marching through the thin, crisp layer of snow, leaving a myriad of tracks. Thor and Steve left deep, firm indentations as they strode through the nearby forest; Tony’s footsteps bounced around, as he tried to keep warm in his overpriced snow boots; Natasha barely left a trace, her nimble steps leaving scarcely a whisper of her presence; and behind them all came the Hulk’s massive, Yeti-inspiring craters while Clint watched from his perch on Hulk’s shoulder.

They wound their way up a series of rounded hills, dotted throughout with towering pine trees, hardened by centuries of living. Finally, at the crest of the last hill, they emerged into a wide, circular clearing. In the center of the clearing stood a giant ash tree, stretching its wizened branches towards the gray, snow-laden skies.

“My friends,” Thor motioned to the tree, “this is Yggdrasil, the tree of life.”

The others stood silently for a moment, exchanging glances. Steve finally cleared his throat and said, “Um, so how exactly is a tree supposed to help us?”

“We are going to climb it!” Thor grinned.

“No offense, Thunder Boy, but I’m not sure you understand what’s at stake here. I mean, the tree is tall, sure, but how…?”

Thor held up his hand, stemming Tony’s flow of questions. “My friends, you forget, it is my brother who is the god of Lies and Mischief, not I. You have my word: at the top of this tree is the solution to our problems. Or at least the path to the solution.”

Natasha glanced around at the tense group of men around her. “Well, if Thor says so, that’s good enough for me. I’ll climb the tree.”

“No,” Steve held out his arm to stop her, “if anyone’s going up first, it’ll be me.” He tucked his shield behind his back and stepped up, grabbing hold of the lowest branch. With one mighty swing after another, he pulled himself up, bracing his feet against rough bark as he went along. Natasha shrugged, then followed him up, leaping nimbly as cat from branch to branch. The others quickly followed suit, Thor half flying, half leaping upwards, Hulk crashing and charging through the leaves with Clint and Tony shielding their faces from the foliage recoil as they clung to his shoulders.

After several minutes, Steve caught his breath. They had been climbing for well over the time it would have taken to scale the tree they had seen from the ground. But still, the branches kept going and the translucent green canopy remained high overhead. The higher they climbed, the warmer the air around them became. Soon, Steve’s uniform was sticky with shining layers of sweat.

“So, Thor, does this tree ever end?” Clint called up from below.

“It does! In fact, we have just reached it! Welcome to Muspelheim!”

Steve’s head was the first to breach the canopy. He found himself staring through the mouth of a cave, out on to the Fireplains, the realm of Surt, the god of fire and destruction. The sky was black with curling wisps and billowing clouds of dark smoke. The landscape was dotted with volcanoes, each spewing their own rivers of lava and molten magma. The few scattered shrubs and plants burned brightly in perpetual dancing, wavering flames.

“Oh boy, good thing I installed air conditioning,” Tony muttered as his suit-on-the-go unfolded and wrapped around his body.

“Why have you brought us here?” Steve asked as everyone climbed up through the hole and hoisted themselves on to the cave floor. “I thought you said we would find Nia and Loki here.”

“I said that we would find the solutions we are looking for. Because I believe that Surt is controlling my brother, and if my brother took your lady friend, then this is where they must be.”

“Yeah, and how exactly are supposed to find them?”

“You need not look very far.”

The group jumped collectively as Loki’s voice echoed through the cavern.

“Please, I come unarmed.” He stepped forward out of the shadows, hands raised. He was simply dressed in a soft, green wool tunic with black breeches, leather boots and a plainly embossed leather coat. His helmet and scepter were gone, and his long black hair hung in damp tendrils around his face.

“Brother,” Thor stepped forward hesitantly, his voice catching in his throat. “My brother.” He grabbed Loki roughly, pulling him into a forceful embrace. Loki stood stiffly, allowing his brother to squeeze him, his powerful muscles crushing his arms against his side.

“It’s good to see you too, brother,” he mumbled quietly through Thor’s tangled mane.

Finally, Thor pulled away, reaching for Mjolnir, who he had left on a nearby rocky ledge.

“Enough with the warm and fuzzy reunion,” Steve ordered. “We need answers. Where’s Nia? Where are you hiding her?”

Loki grinned. “It’s good to see you too, Captain. Do not worry, your little girlfriend is safe…for now. But I’m afraid she is not our main concern.”

“I’ll decide that! This is as much a rescue mission as it is one of defense. Give us what we’re looking for!”

“Fine,” Loki shrugged. “The girl is in a tower at the far rear of Surt’s palace. But in order to get there, you will need to get through Surt’s army of fire demons. And that is no easy task.”

“Enough!” Steve shouted. He released the shield from its sling and hurled it towards Loki. The edge of the circular vibranium shield caught him across the ribs, slinging him backwards until he impacted on the wall of the cave, sending a shower of dirt and pebbles raining down from the roof. “You are a liar and a murder! Now tell us where we can find her!”

Before anyone could react, Steve had thrown himself on top of Loki, pinning him to the floor with his knees. Catching his tunic in his fist, Steve slammed his fist into the other man’s face twice.

“Stand down, soldier!” Natasha called out. She nodded, and Hulk reached out, plucking Steve up into the air. He kicked and struggled, but to no avail. Thor and Tony rushed over to help Loki to his feet.

Loki reached up and brushed the corner of his mouth with his fingertips. They came away stained with blood. “You must truly care for her, solider boy. It is unfortunate that she does not feel the same way.”

“You can’t possibly know that!”

“It hardly matters at this point!” Natasha jumped in. “Steve’s right. This is a rescue mission. But it’s also a matter of preventing a worldwide war! Now Loki…” she turned to him, “we have no reason to trust you, but you’re are only inside intel’ on the situation. You realize that by helping us, we can help guarantee your safety when all this is over? That is, if the information is reliable.”

Loki nodded, glancing upward under hooded lids. “I will help. And what I have already said is true. Surt is preparing an army of fire demons. They are nearly unstoppable, and I have yet to discern a weakness. I do know, however, that his mares will also be at work. They will make your minds see things that are not there and bring to life your worst fears. You would do well to prepare your minds as well as your weapons for battle.”

“How do we know we can trust you?” Clint asked. “How do we know there’s not an ambush force waiting for us right outside?”

“As a token of goodwill,” Loki said, glancing up at Steve, “I will find the maiden and bring her back to you. That is, unless anyone else around here can teleport. No? Well, then, I will be with you shortly.” With that, he bowed, wincing in pain, then vanished.

Hulk dropped Steve immediately, but forgetting how high up he was, the soldier came crashing down to the ground. “Ouch!”

“Hulk sorry!”

“Not as sorry as we’re going to be when Loki doesn’t come back,” Clint clambered down from the jutting outcrop he had stationed himself on. “Sorry, Thor, but I still don’t trust that brother of yours.”

“It is no matter. If the maiden truly is where he says, then she is far safer there than with us. If she is elsewhere, we will still have to stop Surt from unleashing his army and waging war on the Nine Realms. I say that we engage the giant now, while he is still in his own realm.”

“I think Thor’s right,” Tony spoke up. “We’re going to have to take this guy down sooner or later. And I never like to be tardy to a party.”

“Are we agreed, then? We shall begin the fight, then continue our search for the maiden?”

There were nods from everyone except Steve, who was overlooked by all.

“There’s only one other thing to remember,” Natasha reminded them. “Loki said that there would be more mares waiting out there for us. Based on what we’ve experienced so far, I’m inclined to believe him on that account. So if you see anyone, anyone out there who looks out of place, just remember that it’s not real. Don’t let your heart control your eyes.”

They nodded again, then, with a collective inhale, strode out of the cave and into the fire.


	13. Chapter 12 - Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki comes back for Nia, and she discovers the extent of the injuries Steve inflicted upon him. Together, they escape Surt's castle and find a way back to the others.

As soon as Loki had vanished, Nia set about to working her way out. There was no door in any of the curved walls, so she first ran to the window, looking out on her surroundings. She quickly saw the source of the oppressing heat that had filled the room on Loki’s disappearance. The Fireplains of Muspelheim stretched out as far as she could see. Looking down, she saw the fortress she was enclosed in drop straight down for a hundred feet before ending in a moat of churning lava.

Spinning back around to the room, she started pacing up and down. After her fifth turn about the room, she stopped, facing the settee. The green blanket, now neatly folded in the corner, caught her eye. She picked it up, rubbing its coarse texture between her fingers. A slow smile began to spread on her face. Then, with an energetic ferocity, she tore into the fabric shredding it into long, thin strips. When the blanket had been reduced to a pile of ribbons, she started in on the settee, ripping the upholstery away from the frame and shredding it as well.

Nia was sitting amidst the rainbow of fabric on the floor carefully tying the tail of each ribbon to the next, when a sudden breath of cool air filled the room, sweeping gently across her damp, sweat-streaked face. “Loki?”

“Lady Nia,” he smiled and gently bowed his head in her direction. “Do not be afraid. I come bringing good news which shall bring great…joy.” As he stepped forward, he suddenly doubled over, clutching at his waist. Slowly, he dropped to the ground, his face tight with pain.

“Loki, what’s wrong?! What’s happened?” Nia ran to his side and knelt down. She quickly glanced over him, noting his tattered clothes and the quickly blooming bruise along his right eye socket. All the color had left his face as he gasped in slow, shallow breaths. She swallowed, then spoke gently, “Let me see.”

Slowly, he removed his hand from his ribcage. It was red and moist with blood. Beneath it, Nia could see where the fabric of his tunic was torn, revealing a throbbing red gash as wide as her hand.

“How did this happen? Who did this to you?”

“Actually, this was courtesy of your boyfriend. That shield of his is sharper than I allowed for.”

Nia squinted in confusion, then gasped. “You mean Steve? He’s here? Are the others with him?”

Loki grimaced, then nodded. “And I received this as a ‘thank you’ for stopping them from running after you and straight into Surt’s army. Ah!” He cried out as a fresh pang of agony swept through his body.

“Loki! If, if you were real, I mean really here, if I could touch you, I could help you.”

“But I am really here,” he reached out and grasped her hand in his. His long, icy fingers felt cool against her skin as they intertwined with hers. It was him this time, no magic, no illusions. Nia reached out hesitantly, then gently pushed the dark, damp locks away from his high brow. Then glancing over her shoulder, she eyed the roughly fashioned rope that was meant to be her escape.

“Hold still,” she told him. Quickly, she tore apart the knots that had been so carefully tied only moments ago. When they were unraveled she packed a layer of the thin cloths over the wound, then wrapped them in place with the remaining strips. By now, a slight feverish flush had come to his cheeks and a light sheen of sweat had broken out on his brow. Frowning, Nia gently placed the back of her hand against his forehead. “You feel warm,” she said. “Isn’t there somewhere we can go to get help? I’m sure that Steve and the others will listen to me. If we can get to them…”

“I will go back to them,” Loki struggled to pull himself upright. “Very soon Surt will be ready, and there will be a battle like the Nine Realms have never seen. It will not be safe for anyone. You will stay here. At least in Surt’s own palace you should be somewhat out of harm’s way.”

“No!” Nia shouted and stamped her foot on the ground. Loki’s eyes widened in surprise, and she blushed, realizing how childish she must look. Nonetheless, she squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “I’m going with you. I’m not some damsel in distress to be locked up in a tower like this. I know Surt’s tricks, I’ve studied his powers. Let me help!”

Loki leaned against the window’s ledge, panting from pain and heat. He was silent for a moment, seeming to gain strength as he took control of his breathing, slowly inhaling and exhaling. “You know, you were right,” he finally said. “When Thor came back to Asgard a changed man, I could not accept it. I could not reconcile the good man he had become with the arrogant wretch that he was. I thought myself much more suited to the throne. And I acted shamefully because of it. In my despondency and, dare I say it, foolishness, I allowed myself to be manipulated by greater forces. They preyed on my anger and desperation until I found myself committing acts that disgusted even my base mind.”

He paused. “I cannot entertain the thought that forgiveness can ever be in my future, so I will not ask for it. I will never be welcome in Asgard, nor in any other Realm for that matter, so this will be my last stand. My last chance to, at the very least, claim a destiny in Valhalla. That will never happen if I allow you to come to harm.”

Nia was silent. Then, moving forward, she grasped both of his hands between her own, squeezing them tightly. Loki’s eyes widened, and his lips parted in surprise at her warm touch. Then releasing one hand, she gently placed it on his chest. The strong beat of his heart pulsed under her fingertips. “Your mother was right,” she whispered. “You’re only hurting yourself with all this. But my uncle was right too. You lack conviction in your deeds. If you can commit to this, if you can help us defeat Surt and prevent the battle, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. We…I will help you find what you’re looking for.”

Loki raised a hand and wound his fingers through her hair, his cool touch sending chills from her head to her toes. His blue eyes softened and his lips hovered above her brow. “You are a remarkable woman, Nia Ifernain. Perhaps I have already found what I am looking for.”

Nia’s breath caught her throat. She pulled back with a sudden jerk. “Loki! We need to go. We need to go help.”

Loki smiled with his familiar, pointed grin. “Well, all right then. We will need some horses.”

With one arm still clutched to his side, Loki quickly got up and strode to the opposite wall. With a wave of his hand the stones dissolved, leaving an open archway. He turned back and smiled at Nia, who only scowled at him in return. “I knew there was an easier way out of here! You were going to let me climb down to my death!”

“Of course not!” he laughed. “I was going to let you climb down to your slightly scalding, burn-you-to-a-crisp attempt at an escape, before I rushed in and saved you at the last moment.” The smile on his face vanished as he crossed the room towards her. Extending his free hand, he grasped hers in it. His fingers were just as cool, though much stronger now as they encircled her smaller hand. “Are you sure you want this? You may get out, only to find yourself wishing you had stayed at home.”

“It’s a little late for that,” Nia smiled.

Loki didn’t answer, but she thought she saw the faintest of smiles haunt his lips before he turned his head.

“We must be quick.” He hurried through the doorway, Nia running to keep up with his long strides.

“Shouldn’t we be a little bit quieter?” Nia whispered as their footsteps echoed through the stone corridors.

“I have put a cloaking spell on us,” Loki responded. “As long as you’re holding my hand, we are both invisible to other eyes and ears.

“Oh. Well, why don’t we just teleport down there?”

Loki paused for just a moment, waving his hand in front of another stone wall that gave way to his enchantment. “Because,” he whispered, dragging her through the entrance, “that drains my vitality almost more than anything else. I may be able to get us there, but I would not last much beyond that.”

Nia didn’t answer. She just squeezed Loki’s hand a little tighter and quickened her pace a little more.

They finally reached the ground floor. Their whole way down, they had passed only two Fire Maidens and a single armed guard. Now that they had reached the stables through the palace’s roughly used back door, they encountered only two guards with a handful of Fire Steeds. The guards were the native Fire Demons of Muspelheim. They were hideous by Midgardian standards. They stood upright, like a man, but towered over the heads of most mortals. They had long lower jaws, tiny pinholes for ears, and large, muscular arms that hung by the ground in ape-fashion. Their entire bodies were covered in scales of coal, beneath which was visible the internal fire that raged in their hearts and fueled their unholy powers.

The steeds, on the other hand, were much more beautiful to behold. Born in the heart of a volcano, each stallion was coal black, with manes and tails that rippled with flames. As soon as they smelled the presence of the Asgardian and his companion, they began to snort and stamp, sending blasts of smoke and sparks into the air.

Loki crouched behind the half partition in one of stalls, pulling Nia down with him. “We will need to disarm those guards. I can distract them…”

“Loki,” Nia whispered, grabbing hold of his shirt sleeve, “wouldn’t our best defense against the Fire Demons be ice? Couldn’t you just, you know…?” she indicated the use of his Jotun powers with a wave of her hand, but he cut her off.

“No. That’s not who I am. I am Loki of Asgard, and I will not be identified with those foul beings known as Frost Giants.”

Nia smiled softly, then shook her head. “Well, all right then. I told you, I’m not a damsel in distress. Leave the guards to me.” Quickly, before he could protest, she slipped her hand out from his grip and jumped up, easily clearing the stall door. “Hey boys! You should really listen when your horses are trying to tell you something!”

Before the soldiers could react, Nia leaped forward, landing a solid roundhouse kick to the first guard’s face. Using the traction from her spin, she sent another kick that landed square in his gut. When he doubled over, she brought her knee up, crushing his weakened skull. The guard dropped, his sword and shield clattering to the ground.

In a moment, she had spun back around, the sword and shield in her hands, but it wasn’t fast enough. The second guard was on top of her, using his iron shield to shove her back to the ground. The shield’s rounded, leather bound edge caught her on the shoulder and upper back, knocking the breath out of her body. With a deep gasp, she regained her wind, and spun back around.

Nia was shocked to find the Fire Demon completely still, his face twisted in a hideous scowl, crouched above her. A loud hiss escaped his body as the embers around his heart flickered and died out. Nia quickly rolled to the side, the body nearly missing her as it collapsed to the ground. She couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping in surprise when she saw the metal-tined pitchfork protruding from the guard’s back.

Loki was grinning, sweat dripping from his forehead as he held tightly to his injury. He chuckled lightly. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun, now could I?”

Nia laughed, shaking her head. She took a deep breath, willing the adrenaline to leave her body and steady her shaking limbs. She gathered the two swords and fitted the heavy, round shield to her left forearm. When she turned around, Loki was standing close by, his hand held out expectantly.

Suddenly, she froze. Every muscle in her body seized up, and she stood still, staring at his outstretched hand.

Loki laughed. “Come on, Nia, hand me the sword. We need to leave before your red, white, and overly-muscled boyfriend starts missing me. Oh.” The last syllable escaped his lips in a little sigh as the smile dropped off his face. “I understand. All this time it’s been we can help you, we know what you’re going through, tell us how you feel, Loki. You have been hiding behind your organization this whole time. But you have yet to trust me yourself. You are afraid that if you hand me that weapon, I will turn it on you, as I did your uncle. Your silence speaks volumes. Fine. Then leave the sword here, and let us be on our way.”

Loki silently mounted one of the fiery black steeds, while Nia, finally moved to a sluggish action, double wrapped the sword’s belt around her waist. She bridled the stallion in the next stall, then mounted, leaping easily onto the beast’s back. Loki turned towards the stable door. Suddenly, Nia awoke, as if from a dream. She stared down at the blade in her hand, then gripping it tightly, spurred her horse forward, blocking Loki’s exit.

“Here,” she held the sword out, hilt first. “You can’t go into battle unarmed.” Without waiting for a reaction, she laid her leg on the horse’s side, spinning him around, cantering out the door and onto the Fireplains.


	14. Chapter 13 - Reassemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Nia rejoin the Avengers and at last engage Surt in battle.

Loki and Nia rode hard, skirting the lakes of lava and the gaseous sulfur geysers that dotted the land, until they crested a low lying volcanic bluff. On the other side of it, they spotted the Avengers, a small and colorful band of gypsies against the black and red landscape. The pair galloped towards them, coming to a smooth, sliding stop in front of the team. They were dismounted even before the horses had completely ended their sparking halt.

“Brother!” Thor was the first of the team to react. With tears strangling his voice, he rushed forward, clapping his brother in a bone crushing embrace. Loki grimaced, fighting the waves of nausea that rushed over his body, emanating from the gash in his ribs. When Thor pulled back and clapped his brother around the neck, Loki returned the gesture. “My brother,” he whispered hoarsely.

“Shhh. No words are needed.” Thor answered.

“Nia,” Steve stepped forward, pushing his blue hood off his face. “I thought you were gone for good.” He angled himself to give her a hug, but the effect was too awkward. Their combined weapons clashed, and Nia made no move to return the effort.

“Ah, you needn’t have worried about the Shield Maiden,” Loki smiled and spoke up. “She was in good hands. Although she is well able to care for herself as well, I can assure you.”

“If she was harmed in any way…” Steve started.

“Steve, it’s fine.” Nia’s voice was as firm as her grip on the soldier’s arm. “Now is not the time.”

“Hey, if all the domestics are over, can we go kill us some demons?” Tony cut in.

There was a united nod in the group, as they all fitted their weapons. Tony’s suit lit up with power, lifting him off the ground with a surge of blue flames; Clint drew out the first arrow from his quiver and fit it to his bow; Natasha pulled out her two Glocks from their hip holsters, cocking them into position; the Hulk pounded his fist into his own giant palm; Steve replaced his hood, and lifted his shield into position; Thor raised Mjolnir above his head, swinging it through the air; Loki and Nia both brandished their swords, Loki raising his to point to the far horizon. “I don’t think we have a choice at this point.”

On the edge of the burning sky, the silhouette of Surt and his army began to materialize. Each solider was a carbon copy of the guards at the palace…only five times bigger. They lumbered across the ground, slow, but steady and ultimate in their destruction.

Surt, towering above his troops, rode forward on an immense black and yellow salamander. He lifted his golden scepter above his head, signaling to his troops to halt. “Midgardians!” His voice boomed across the Plains, “I will give you only one chance to surrender, not only yourself, but your planet. It will be within my power soon…you may decide if it will be over a river of your own blood.”

Steve stepped in front of the group and raised his voice. “We will never surrender to the likes of you, Surt! But we will offer you the same terms! Turn back now or face your doom!”

In reply, Surt merely turned and nodded to his soldiers. As one burning mass they moved forward. Steve, in turn, motioned with his shield, then took off, leading the Avengers into battle.


	15. Chapter 14 - Such Sweet Sorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nia saves Loki's life, but at what cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief time skip in the battle brought to you by my complete lack of ability to write mass group action scenes. Sorry! Also here's a hug for what's about to happen. Sorry about that too. :'(

As Nia stumbled to the ground beside the body of the Fire Demon, she paused, kneeling, to catch her breath. The sweat was rolling down her brow in rivulets, and the heat sent her blood boiling and pounding through her ears. Her lips were blistered and cracked, and blood poured out from a gash in her right arm. She tore a corner of her blouse off and used it to wipe the sweat from around her eyes before dabbing at the wound on her arm.

She raised her head to look around. Surt was leading a small charge against the main force of the Avengers at least a half mile from her position. Between herself and the heart of the battle, Steve was taking on a pair of the Demons on his own. But where was Loki?

A cry to her left suddenly caught her ears. When she spun around, she was shocked at the sight that met her eyes. The enormous salamander, sans his terrifying master, had trapped Loki against the sheer wall of the nearest volcano.

In defense, Loki had duplicated himself, so that the creature was now surrounded by shimmering facsimiles of the god. But the animal possessed extraordinary sensory powers. He lifted his shiny black head and swung it to and fro, the huge red tongue flicking in and out, gathering intelligence on the air’s chemical smells. Then, with sudden accuracy, he whipped his head around, focusing in on the one, true Loki. As soon as Nia assessed the situation, she broke into a run, sprinting towards the pair with every muscle of her being.

He quickly realized that his game had been unsuccessful. The dozens of other Lokis vanished. Just before the creature’s jaws snapped, he managed to lift his shield, blocking the pointed fangs from his body. Again and again he dodged the beast’s massive bites, glancing them off his shield, but never getting a chance for a decent stroke of his sword. Finally, with decisive finality, the salamander tilted his snout, whipped himself around, and latched onto Loki’s exposed left leg.

“Loki! No!” Nia screamed.

As the animal lifted his head, throwing his prey into the air like a cat with its plaything, Nia took advantage of her opportunity. She slid beneath the throat of the amphibian, thrusting her blade as she went. It caught deep in the creature’s flesh. Quickly, she was to her feet again, ripping the blade along until the whole head of the beast was loosed from its body. As Loki came back down through the air, the tail of the salamander, flailing in its death throes, struck him, sending him flying once more.

Nia stumbled backwards with her sword, watching to be sure that the creature would truly be dead when it had finished its fatal convulsions. As the body fell the ground with a heavy thud, a thick, black smoke began to fill the air, released from the newly exposed cavities. Nia instantly began to cough. A burning sensation filled her nose and throat, creeping down towards her lungs. She turned to run, but in every direction she could only see blackness through bleary, watering eyes. Her mind said to call out, but her voice died in her throat. She only muster a tiny rasping sound as she fell to her knees.

“Nia! Nia! Nia!” Loki’s voice echoed through the darkness around her. His running footsteps came closer and closer until he materialized by her side. By now, the smoke was beginning to clear, but Nia could still feeling the mind numbing pain of its chemical toxins with every excruciating breath.

Loki paused, just for a moment, when he saw her. She was lying on the blackened rock, sword and shield discarded, gasping for breath. He had seen the death of a Fire Salamander only once before, when a would-be hero had slain it in Vanaheim and had unwittingly sacrificed his entire village to the foul poisons that were the animal’s last defense.

Ever so gently, he knelt and cradled her in his arms. “Oh, Nia. What have I done?” he whispered softly, a single tear haltingly winding down his cheek.

From behind them, he could hear drumming footsteps. “Nia! What’s going on?” Steve raced up beside them, quickly throwing his shield aside when he saw Nia’s limp form in Loki’s arms.

“You monster! Get away from her this instant!” With a rough swipe from his arm, Steve shoved Loki aside, gathering Nia up in his arms. “Nia, what have they done to you?” he gripped her tightly and whispered in her ear. Scooping her up like a sleeping child, Steve stumbled to his feet.

Loki did not stir, but softly asked, “Where are you taking her?”

“Back to Earth. You and your people can deal with Surt. You have been nothing but trouble to us since the day we heard of you. If Surt brings the battle to Earth, we will face him on our own terms. But until that time comes, he’s no quarrel of ours. Now, I need to take Nia back…she’ll be treated by doctors of her own kind.”

“Wait! Wait, I may have, just one idea.” Steve paused, but didn’t turn around as Loki spoke. “Please, if you try to make it back to Earth, it could be too late.”

Slowly, Steve turned. “You have one chance. If anything happens to her, it will be on your head.”

Loki scrambled over the ash-covered ground until he was again kneeling by Nia’s side. Her breath was coming shallower and shorter with every labored rise and fall of her chest. Her body was limp; her lips pallid and eyes closed.

Loki gently raised her head, his pale fingers intertwining in her vibrant hair. Parting her lips with his other hand, he pressed his own against them. He inhaled deeply through his nose, releasing the air in a deep sigh into her mouth. On its way through his respiratory system, the scorched air had become the sweet, refreshing breeze of a snow-filled winter’s day. It passed into Nia’s damaged body, coating her throat and lungs with tiny ice crystals, bringing soothing relief to their burning surfaces.

Nia’s eyes fluttered open as she took a deep, gasping breath. She took several more, but each was more ragged than the last.

“Shh, shh, be still,” Loki whispered, holding her firmly so that she did not injure herself further in her struggles. Steve was quickly over his shoulder, reaching out to grasp one of her hands. Using Steve’s hand as an anchor, Nia attempted to lift herself up, violently fighting for another breath. Finally, she shuddered, and relaxed, fatigued with the effort. She swallowed, and her lips parted, but she made no sound. Again, she swallowed, this time managing a small, rasping voice, so that both men had to lean in to catch her words.

“Steve,” she gave his hand a weak squeeze, “I’m so sorry. I wish, I wish things could have been different…with us” Then fixing her dim eyes on Loki, her lips curved upwards in a slight smile. He smiled in return, tears now cascading down, dripping from his nose and his chin into little droplets that splashed in clean puddles on her grimy, soot-stained face. “Loki, I still believe in you.”

Nia sighed, and closed her eyes, the smile still frozen upon her lips.

 

For a moment, both men were silent. The wind whipped up around them, swirling ashes and sparks through the air, and bringing with it the distant sounds of the battle still being fought by their allies. Steve was the first to stand. He turned and slowly walked away, gathering up his shield from where it had lodged in the side of the volcano when he had thrown it. When the armor was fitted to his arm, he spoke in a low, even tone. “Get up.”

“What?” Loki didn’t move, his eyes still fixed on Nia’s motionless form.

“I said, ‘Get up.’ I won’t fight you while you cower over her body.”

“Why should we fight?” Loki whispered. “What is there left to even live for?”

“This is your fault!” Steve motioned with his shield arm to indicate the entirety of his statement. “All of it is because of you! If you hadn’t allied with Surt, if you hadn’t kidnapped Nia, if you hadn’t even left Asgard in the first place, none of this would have happened. There would be no Battle of New York, no impending Armageddon, Coulson would still be alive, and Nia…oh, Nia…her blood is on your hands.”

Loki finally looked up, allowing her to slip from his hands. “You are right. I have brought trouble since the day of my birth. You would do well to slay me now.”

Steve took a step back, surprised by his admission. “I don’t want to kill you. But I will bring you in for S.H.I.E.L.D. if you’re going to come willingly.”

“I place myself in your hands.”

“Then get up. I’ll bring the both of you back to Earth.”

As Loki stumbled to his feet, his glanced over Steve’s shoulder. From their vantage point, he could clearly see the battle still raging. There were certainly fewer Demons now, but the zest with which the Avengers engaged their enemy was clearly flagging. “Ahem,” he gave a slight cough, “not to intrude on your plans, but had we not better come to the aid of our friends yonder?”

Steve turned and glanced over his shoulder. Then, with one long, last look at Nia, he grabbed hold of Loki’s tunic. “Get us over there, now.”

Without a word, Loki closed his eyes. They rippled slightly, their atoms scrambling through the atmosphere in less than the blink of an eye, and reappeared behind the outcropping of rock held by the Avengers.

Thor rushed to their side when he saw them appear. “Brother!” he clapped Loki in another crushing embrace. “I saw what happened. I am so sorry that I could not come to your aid.”

“It is no matter, brother. Although, I do have a small idea for a plan to end all this madness, but it will need your assistance.”

“Loki, no more plotting. Be honest with me. Is this a dangerous scheme?”

Loki grinned. “It is only dangerous for myself. But when I am finished, I believe that you will find more than one of your problems solved.”

Thor paused, looking deep into his brother’s eyes. From childhood, Loki had been a talented liar. As the boys grew to manhood, Thor had learned to look past many of his false fronts, reading the true intentions behind the icy coolness. Now, however, he saw the thing that scared him the most—honesty. “I cannot allow it,” he finally said. “I cannot bear to lose you again.”

“Oh, brother,” Loki chuckled, “when will you learn how little control you have over my actions?” In the next instant, he was gone.


	16. Chapter 15 - Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki's plan to defeat Surt comes at a cost.

Thor glanced in every direction searching for his brother. When he saw him, he set his jaw and clenched his fingers around the hammer. Loki was standing, small and alone, before the Fire Giant.

He had found a volcanic outcropping that jutted into the air near Surt’s head. Onto this he had projected himself, now clad in his full royal Asgardian regalia, emerald cape billowing on the parched wind and curved horns gleaming in the golden light. “Surt!” he shouted, slamming the end of his scepter into the red earth. “Enough of this! Your quarrel is with me, not with these people. I surrender myself into your hands.”

Thor’s voice could be heard shouting in protest, but it was drowned out by the rumbling laughter of the Fire Giant. “You tiny fool! You speak as though your life were yours to command! You who were so ready to betray and destroy the very ones you now feign to protect. They were not wrong to call you the god of treachery.” To prove his point, Surt reached out a flaming arm and snatched Loki up in his fist. Pinned by the waist, Loki could no more move than could a doll from the hand of its master.

“Have you any last words?”

Loki’s pale lips curved up in a venomous grin. “No last words. I only wish you to know that your death will come at the hands of a son of Asgard.”

He closed his eyes then, breathing hard. From the top of his head, spreading downward across his face through his body to the tips of his fingers and toes, the hue of his skin began to change. He continued to morph until his whole body shivered with a blue icy tinge. When he opened his eyes, they had a dull red sheen.

With a loud cry, he lifted the scepter above his head. Ice had begun to grow out from his hand, coiling around the weapon and bursting outward towards the Fire Giant. The ice grew and surged forward quickly until it pierced the breast of its target. Surt roared in agony, releasing his grip on Loki. But Loki held tight to his scepter, dangling high in the air from its frozen surface. As he hung there, his body began to writhe with pain as the power coursed through him. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his breath came in short, misty bursts. But his jaw was set, and he continued to hang on as the ice bloomed and grew.

Once the frost had penetrated the Giant’s heart, it spread through his body. His boiling veins slowed as they choked with ice, every moment halting as ice overtook his limbs, his face, his mind. All around them, the world of Muspelheim began to react as its master succumbed to the Frost powers. The volcanoes’ bubbling brews froze over with thick floe. Across the horizon, the black and red landscape turned into a spider’s web of frosty fingers. The Fire Demons, faced with the chilling climate, slowly began to melt, pooling into steamy puddles of half-glowing coals and flickering embers.

By the time the spindly frost crystals reached the ground around the Avengers’ feet, Surt had become a solid frozen effigy of his former self. Loki gave a final gasp as he hung from the icy scepter, his body exhausted with effort. For a moment, he dangled, draped over the weapon, then gravity took over. Unconscious, Loki’s body tumbled through the mist towards the frozen ground. The last thing he was aware of was a soft, warming touch against his brow, and the clap of thunder that shook the air.


	17. Chapter 16 - Valhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is the end the beginning for Loki and Nia?

It took Loki some time to realize that he was awake. The dull throb in his head and the black, engulfing silence continued, only now he was aware of the firm mattress beneath his body and the soft pillow under his head. He felt the cool satin of the sheets against his skin and the slight tickle of rose-scent in the air. Slowly, he opened the heavy lids of his eyes.

The room around him was familiar, almost too familiar. He had spent many hours in the healing chambers after his mother would discover the scrapes and bruises from his playtime with Thor, Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, and Sif. It was only after countless healings on his own body that he had begun to master that difficult skill, under tutelage from Frigga. He knew that her hand must have been at work today, because despite the battle and exhaustion he had endured, he now felt peaceful and rested. In fact, it was the best he had felt since that fateful day of Thor’s would-be coronation when his life was turned upside down forever.

Turning his head slightly, he could see his brother beside him. His face was leaning on one of his huge fists and a slight snore escaped through his lips. It was evident from the wrinkles in his cape and the blonde bristle on his cheek that this was the first sleep he’d had in quite some time.

Not wanting to wake his brother, but anxious to move and truly bring the feeling back into his limbs, Loki sighed and shifted his weight on the bed.

Even that slight movement was enough to wake Thor, however. He quickly grunted and jerked his head up, blinking rapidly. “My brother,” he exclaimed, dragging his chair closer to the bed, “it is so good to finally see you awake! Mother said that you would sleep for a while, but never have I seen someone enjoy his rest so well! It has been nearly three weeks that you have been on that couch, you lazy bilgesnipe.” Thor’s voice was light and a smile was on his lips, but as he clasped his brother’s hand, there was a deeper joy that filled his eyes.

Loki smiled in return. “It has really been three weeks? But then…”

“Yes, is it all over now.”

“And what has become of the others?”

Thor laughed. “Well, you missed out on one of the finest feasts Asgard has ever known! How the music and dancing went on! It is a wonder you were able to sleep a wink through all the noise and merriment. But all good things must end, I suppose. The Avengers have returned to their place in Midgard, to be ready the next time that evil threatens the Realms.”

“And what of…?” Loki’s voice caught in his throat.

“The Shield Maiden? Well, she has more than earned her place in that glorious hall which belongs to those who sacrifice everything in the heat of battle. But,” he looked up as Frigga entered the room, “I will let her tell you more about it. Goodbye, my brother.”

With a quick squeeze of his brother’s hand and a smile on his face, Thor stood and left the room, bowing slightly to his mother as he left.

“Good evening, my son,” Frigga gracefully crossed the room and filled Thor’s vacant seat. “You know,” she spoke quietly, taking Loki’s hand in her own as she spoke, “that is the first time I have seen your brother leave your side since they brought you here from Muspelheim. He has not eaten or slept apart from your chambers, and even these he has done so infrequently I feared that we might find him bedridden beside you soon.”

Loki was silent as he contemplated his mother’s words. It was a strange thing still, to see the brother he had spent more than a millennia battling become his closest friend. It was a humbling idea, one that still tasted bitter in his thoughts. Slowly, he tried to raise himself up. Frigga rearranged the pillows beneath his head so that he was propped halfway up in a comfortable position.

“Mother,” he finally spoke, “Thor mentioned that you have word of Nia…of the Lady Ifernain.”

A light smile touched the queen’s lips. “The girl was more impressive than even I had imagined. But she also had Norse blood running through her veins. So she followed the natural course of any warrior.”

“You mean that she is…?”

The queen nodded.

“Then, I am never to see her again?”

Frigga pursed her lips, gazing over her son’s head at the last rays of the sun as they filtered through the window, illuminating every breathless particle in the air. “Loki, I have been speaking to your father…”

“Bah!” Loki cried out. He released his mother’s hand and turned on his side, so that he faced the cool marble pillars of the wall. “I do not wish to hear of Odin, as my father or otherwise!”

“You will wish to hear this!” When Loki did not respond, Frigga sighed. “At least hear me out then. I have been negotiating the terms of your sentence with the All-Father. As you know, Asgardian law demands punishment for your actions, despite the apparent bravery and selflessness of your most recent affairs. I, however, believe that these good deeds should count for something. In light of these, and the many, many hours I spent soliciting on your behalf, Odin has agreed to several terms.” She paused, building the effect for her next words. “First, you shall have a throne from which to rule.”

At this revelation, Loki rolled back over, now facing his mother. “A throne? But which is there that could even be his to give? If you tell me it is the throne of Asgard then I shall truly know that I am still dreaming.”

“It is not Asgard. It is the throne of Valhalla.”

“Valhalla? Oh, then I see his tricks. He means to execute me, then allow me to sit on the throne of the dead. How gracious of the All-Father,” Loki rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Frigga cleared her throat, then continued on. “Under the conditions I negotiated, you will not have to perish to ascend to the throne of Valhalla. You will, however, have to contend with two other circumstances: the first is that you are to remain in Valhalla forever. You will be stripped of your abilities to transport, and all portals will remain closed to you.”

Loki was silent, his arms folded sullenly across his chest.

“The final condition is that you share the throne. Your companion may be of your own choosing, but you are to rule jointly from now until such a time comes that a ruler in Valhalla will no longer be needed.”

Silence permeated the room. Outside the window, an unseen nightingale rustled in the brush and released a short burst of an irrationally optimistic tune. The golden hue of sunset was giving way to a rainbow of purples, blues, and pinks, heralding the coming night. Finally, Loki turned to his mother.

“Oh, mother! What a fool I have been!”

Frigga smiled and caressed his shoulder. “My son. It is never too late to admit such a thing. Shall we go now? I know someone who will be anxiously awaiting your answer.”

“Leave this moment?” Loki felt a sudden tremor descend on himself as he stood, clutching tightly to his mother’s hand. “Is all ready?”

This time Frigga couldn’t help but laugh. Here at last was the boy she remembered. Here he was in the naiveté of childhood, all nerves and anxiousness that he should do and say all the right things. Here was the man she had hoped he would become. With a wave of her hand, she saw him dressed in his royal uniform, missing only the gleaming, double-horned helmet and emerald green cape that had signified his status as an Asgardian prince.

Still clutching his mother’s hand, Loki stood on shaking knees. She guided him to the solid oaken door set in the marble wall. A soft light glowed from beneath its wooden beams. Slowly, it swung back on ancient iron hinges that whined softly at their intrusion.

The golden light burst forth into the darkened room all at once, causing mother and son to hold up their hands and shield their eyes from its glare. When their eyes had adjusted, they crept into the doorway and peered into its contents. Rather than the gloomy, tapestry-draped hallway that had always stood outside that door, there appeared a smooth dirt pathway. From the threshold it rolled out, tumbling, disappearing here in a hollow, then leaping up there over a grassy knoll, dancing far and away over a cascade of rolling hills. To each side the vibrant green grasses nodded their heads in greeting, while clumps of yellow globeflowers and white mountain avens bowed to their new king. Overhead, puffs of white fleecy clouds danced on the breeze, chasing their tails around the bright glow of the morning sun. That same breeze wafted through the doorway, bringing with it the bittersweet tinge of salty ocean air and the distant wash of waves upon the shore.

Suddenly, from one of the distant, unseen hollows, an explosion of hoof beats began drumming towards them. On and on they came, in the distinctive three beat gait, until finally horse and rider crested the last hill and burst into view.

The horse was a glorious red mare. Her coat caught the glowing rays of the sun and radiated them out, like a star shining in the blaze of the day. But her rider outshone her by far. Draped in lavender Asgardian robes and sparkling where the morning sun caught her golden bangles and necklaces, Nia dismounted and held out her hand towards the door.

Loki smiled in return and took a step forward. He was suddenly grounded back to his position by the warm anchor of his mother’s hand, still tightly squeezing his own. When he turned around, his face grew still, surprised to see the tears building in the woman’s eyes. Frigga, queen of Asgard, was well known throughout the Nine Realms for being the bravest and most cunning, the foremost among the Shield Maidens of her time. As a mother, she was loving, but firm. Now, the unshed tears glistening in her eyes caused her son a moment of hesitation.

“Mother,” he moved in closer, rubbing his hand behind her neck. “Thank you.” He placed a soft kiss on the crown of her golden hair. Then, with a final squeeze, he released her, and turned to the door.

With broad, swinging strides, Loki left the room and crossed over into Valhalla.

 

 

As soon as Loki had passed through the door, it swung shut, silently slamming, then vanishing behind his back. Once inside, everything he had seen through the door became more real, more vibrant. It was as though he had stepped through into a painting, only to find that reality had been trapped within the frame and what had been in the past was only a cheap sham of true life.

He was met at once with a rush of salt air, the sweet perfume of the wildflowers, and the warm soil firmly beneath his feet. But none of these mattered.

The smile returned to Loki’s pale face as he reached out his hand. “Nia, oh Nia, my darling.”

Nia smiled in return. Ignoring his outstretched hand, she ran towards him, throwing her arms around his neck. He quickly caught her in his embrace, his wide hands caressing the soft silks on her back. “I am so proud of you,” she whispered.

Loki pulled her back, staring into her eyes. “How do you know? Do you know what happened?”

She nodded. With a wave of her hand, she indicated the land behind her. “There’s a pool over there. I can watch everything in the Nine Realms. I saw the conclusion of the battle. I saw what you did, what you sacrificed to beat them. I was so wrong before. You were wonderful.” Gently, she punctuated her thoughts with tiny kisses on his knuckles.

“I should have listened to you and done it sooner. Then you never would have…”

She laughed. “Then we wouldn’t be here. Then I would be back at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters with Clint and Natasha and Steve. And you…you would be behind the bars of an Asgardian prison, no doubt. Is that what you wish would’ve happened?”

Loki chuckled, a deep, warm sound from the back of his throat. “You and that star-spangled solider alone together in the bowels of that dark government agency? No, no, I much prefer this scenario.”

As he spoke, Loki allowed one of his hands to remain resting in the small of her back, while the other made its way to her face, caressing her cheek, tucking her loose wisps of hair behind her ear. He pulled her into himself, hesitantly, inch by inch, until his lips were hovering above hers, drinking in the softness of her face. When they met it was like the dawn rising, slowly, softly, then all at once, all consuming, blazing with light and life.

They stood locked in their embrace as the timeless world unwound around them. When they finally pulled away, they both laughed quietly. “Nia, my darling,” he whispered, “who would believe the Asgardian serpent would be tamed by the S.H.I.E.L.D. Maiden?”

She laughed softly in return. “Don’t give credit where it’s not due. You have redeemed yourself. Now come, let us explore this new realm of yours.”

“This new realm of ours.” Loki grabbed the bridle of Nia’s mare and gave her a leg up over the fiery beast. With a graceful leap, he jumped up behind her, wrapping his hands around her waist for safety and comfort. Then, together, they rode down the hill, towards the setting sun, to begin the first chapter of their never ending adventures.


	18. Post Credits!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another reminder that the events in this story took place immediately following the Battle of New York as depicted in the Avengers film.

The room was a perfect square. Three slate cold slate blue walls and one enormous glass window overlooking the Potomac. In the center of the room was a tidy metal desk. It contained a stapler, an unplugged lamp, and a cardboard box spilling over with papers and manila envelopes. The filing cabinet on the wall held another box, each with the name Coulson scrawled in permanent ink on the sides.

The single door opposite the window slid open with a soft whush, admitting the dark shadow that was S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury. Fury halted in front of the desk, clasping his hands together. “Well, Phil, we have the file. Steve gave a very…detailed…report. It seems that Agent Ifernain assisted in the release of intergalactic prisoner Loki and aided in his foolish and reckless actions that saw the destruction of an entire Realm. We have no choice but to file her under ‘Discharged Dishonorably.’ Posthumously, of course.”

Agent Phil Coulson spun around in his plush, leather chair to face the director. His familiar smile was still stretched on his lips, but there were a few more wrinkles around his eyes, and a tiny splash of gray showed around his temples. He held out his hand for the file. Fury sighed and placed the folder in his hand. Nia’s name was printed in bold typeface on the side, and her staff picture, serious eyes and fashionably chopped hair, was paper-clipped to the front.

Phil spread the file out on his wide desk top, nodding to himself as he scanned the information included. “So this is what leads to a dishonorable discharge in the agency? Impeccable work results, selfless travel as negotiator to other worlds, and in the end, converting one of our worst enemies to our side and as a result preventing an apocalyptic war? Sir, begging your pardon, but this is ridiculous.”

Fury rolled his one eye and sighed. “You and I know that, Phil, because we knew Nia. Natasha was willing to vouch for her as well, but the rest of them backed up Steve. They all agreed that she turned on the agency in her final moments.”

Silence hung in the room as the men attempted to digest the fate to which their dear friend had been resigned. Fury sighed again. “I’m sorry, Phil. I wish she could have left you something to be proud of.”

Phil smiled, this time a wide, genuine grin. “Well, you’re wrong there too, sir. I’ve always been proud of Nia, and I still am.” He shuffled the papers together back into their file, glided back, and placed them in the empty top drawer of the desk. Without another word, he stood and began sorting through the box, pulling out papers and making a quick mess of the formerly tidy setting.

Fury nodded, then turning on his heel, strode towards the door. It slid open, and he stood in the doorway, hesitating. “Oh, yeah, and welcome back, Phil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bit of a sequel in mind, but whether or not it gets developed and posted will depend on the response this receives, so comments and kudos are always appreciated! :)


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